One in 11 US teens use 'cannabis in e-cigarettes'

About 9% of youths surveyed nearly one in 11 said they had tried cannabis in e-cigarettes at some point

WASHINGTON: Nearly one in 11 US youths say they use battery powered vaping devices, or e-cigarettes, to smoke marijuana or other cannabis products, US researchers said on Monday.

The report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics was based on a 2016 survey of more than 20,000 middle and high school students aged 12 and up.

About nine per cent of youths surveyed nearly one in 11 said they had tried cannabis in e-cigarettes at some point.

Among kids who vape, one in three high schoolers and one in four middle schoolers said they have tried an e-cigarette device with marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or hash oil, or THC wax.



THC is the component in cannabis that conveys the feeling of getting high.

"These estimates are consistent with or higher than previous reports of cannabis use in e-cigarettes among US and Canadian students," said the report, which did not examine overall rates of vaping among teens.

The US Food and Drug Administration said last week it is considering a ban on e-cigarettes, which use fruit or candy-flavored nicotine liquids that may appeal to kids.

The FDA chief, Scott Gottlieb, warned of an "epidemic" of vaping among youths, citing as yet unpublished data showing e-cigarette use "is rising very sharply."