Prevalence of Young Adult Vaping, Substance Vaped, and Purchase Location Across Five Categories of Vaping Devices

Abstract

Introduction: The rapidly evolving landscape of vaping devices has complicated analyses of use patterns among youth and young adults. The current study describes the prevalence of use, substances vaped, and purchasing behaviors across five different vaping device categories.

Aims and methods: Participants (n = 2505; mean age = 19.2, SD = 0.46) from a cohort in the Los Angeles area completed web-based surveys from June 2018 to October 2019. For each of four device type categories depicted via digital images (any pod-style vape, cigalike, box-mod, vape pen) and for JUUL specifically, participants reported ever and past 30-day use, substance vaped (mostly nicotine, nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol [THC], mostly THC, neither), ownership of device (yes/no), where they obtained that device (eg, purchased themselves, from a friend), and if purchased, purchase location (eg, vape shop, online).

Results: Overall, 44.9% reported ever use, and 26.2% reported past 30-day use of at least one of the devices. The prevalence of past 30-day use was highest for pod-style vapes (any pod = 17.0%; JUUL = 15.1%). Among respondents who reported ever owning any device (n = 643 [25.7%]), 59.9% reported purchasing the device themselves, despite not being of legal purchasing age (15.4% of total sample); across all device types, products were most often purchased in vape shops or online.

Conclusions: Across all devices, the prevalence of self-purchase of vaping devices among underage young adults in the Los Angeles area was high, and most were purchased from a vape shop or online. Tobacco control policies to prevent underage purchase of tobacco products-particularly among never smokers-are needed.

Implications: A high proportion of underage young adults reported owning their own vaping device and having purchased it themselves from a vape shop or online. Stronger tobacco control policies and better enforcement efforts are needed to successfully prevent underage purchase of tobacco products.

Figure 1.

Prevalence of ever and past 30-day use by device or device type category. Prevalence estimates based on presentation of five separate device type images asked to all survey respondents. Total sample size varies based on missing data. Ever users are those who reported ever using the device but not in the past 30 days. Past 30-day users reported using the device in the past 30 days. Past 30-day and ever user groups were not mutually exclusive, such that the ever user group also includes past 30-day users.

Figure 2.

Substances vaped by device or device type category. Prevalence estimates based on presentation of device type images asked to survey respondents who reported ever use of the device. “Always nicotine” includes those who indicated always vaping nicotine. “Always THC” includes those who indicated always vaping THC. “Nicotine & THC” includes those who indicated vaping mostly nicotine, mostly THC, or nicotine and THC. “Flavor only” includes those who indicated vaping neither nicotine nor THC (i.e., just flavored e-juice).

Figure 3.

Method of obtaining product by device type. Prevalence estimates based on presentation of device type images asked to survey respondents who reported owning the device. Participants could select multiple methods of obtaining a given device so estimates by method do not total to 100%. ^aOther: found it (4.0%), stole it (0.4%), took it from family (2.2%), other method (1.1%). ^bOther: found it (1.5%), stole it (1.0%), took it from family (0.0%), other method (0.5%). ^cOther: found it (3.5%), stole it (1.8%), took it from family (1.8%), other method (0.9%). ^dOther: found it (2.1%), stole it (1.0%), took it from family (1.6%), other method (1.0%). ^eOther: found it (0.3%), stole it (0.3%), took it from family (1.4%), other method (0.7%).

Figure 4.

Purchase location by device type. Prevalence estimates based on presentation of device type images asked to survey respondents who reported purchasing the device themselves. Participants could select multiple methods of obtaining a given device so estimates by method do not total to 100%. ^aOnline: online brand retailer (56.2%), eBay (0.0%), Craigslist (0.0%), Facebook (0.0%), somewhere else online (2.1%). ^bOther: gas station (12.7%), grocery store (1.9%), pharmacy (0.0%). ^cOnline: online brand retailer (49.8%), eBay (6.0%), Craigslist (0.0%), Facebook (0.0%), somewhere else online (1.3%). ^dOther: gas station (6.1%), grocery store (0.0%), pharmacy (0.0%). ^eOnline: online brand retailer (51.1%), eBay (2.1%), Craigslist (0.0%), Facebook (0.0%), somewhere else online (4.3%). ^fOther: gas station (9.8%), grocery store (0.0%), pharmacy (2.0%). ^gOnline: online brand retailer (54.3%), eBay (4.3%), Craigslist (0.0%), Facebook (0.0%), somewhere else online (1.7%). ^hOther: gas station (0.0%), grocery store (0.0%), pharmacy (0.0%). ⁱOnline: online brand retailer (53.8%), eBay (5.6%), Craigslist (0.7%), Facebook (0.0%), somewhere else online (2.8%). ^jOther: gas station (1.3%), grocery store (0.0%), pharmacy (4.0%).