More people than ever are vaping in Vermont.
Survey results released this week by the Vermont Department of Health show the rate of e-cigarette use in the state doubled, from 3% to 6% of adult respondents, between 2016 and 2022. During that same six-year period, cigarette use dropped, from 17% to 13%, among those surveyed.
Ben Truman, a spokesperson for the health department, said there was growing concern among health officials about the increase in vaping.
“What we’re seeing nationally indicates that this is a trend,” he said.
The Adult Tobacco Survey, conducted in 2022, collected online and mail responses from nearly 3,000 Vermonters. It found that nearly a quarter of the respondents — 23% — used tobacco products.
The results, released Tuesday, come as Gov. Phil Scott weighs whether to sign a ban on the sale of flavored e-liquids and tobacco substitutes. Truman said the timing of the report’s release was coincidental.
“Part of the reason why the report took longer than usual is COVID,” he said.
The Legislature recently passed S.18, which would prohibit the sale of flavored vape liquids, flavored nicotine pouches like Zyns and menthol cigarettes. Scott has expressed concern about the bill’s impact on the state’s revenue.
Vape users — 87% of whom use flavored products, according to the survey — would be most affected by the ban. Younger Vermonters are more likely to opt for vapes, according to the survey, which found that the average vape user is 10 years younger than the average cigarette smoker.
This generational disparity, among others, has led some lawmakers to suggest S.18 could be discriminatory. Survey results show that LGBTQ+ residents and people who are uninsured or have Medicaid insurance use flavored tobacco at higher rates.
Cigarette smokers still outnumber those using vapes in Vermont, but unlike e-cigarette users, their numbers are declining, according to the survey.
Cigarette smokers would also be affected by the ban, though to a lesser degree than vape users. Thirty-six percent of cigarette smokers used menthol cigarettes, the survey found.
The potential ban of menthol cigarettes was another point of contention when lawmakers debated S.18. Black people are more likely to smoke menthols, which led Rep. Saudia LaMont, D-Morristown, to declare that the bill “feels targeted and harmful” in remarks made on the House floor March 14.
The governor has raised questions about the fairness of banning menthol cigarettes when Vermont businesses are allowed to sell flavored alcohol and cannabis.
Lawmakers have asked the state’s Health Equity Advisory Commission to study the question of making an exemption for menthol cigarettes. Mint, or menthol, is the most selected flavor among current tobacco users of any kind, at 41%, according to the survey.
The results of that study are expected in January, a year before the ban would go into effect.
Nearly half of Vermonters who smoke tried to quit in the past year, according to the survey, and most of those tried to quit three or more times.
“We’re heartened by the number of adults trying to quit tobacco,” said Truman. Nevertheless, he worries about cigarette users turning to vaping as a quitting method.
“It’s hard. It’s hard to quit [cigarettes],” he said. “But [vaping] is not healthy, it’s not FDA approved.”
According to the survey, one in 10 adults who currently smoke cigarettes completely switched to e-cigarettes in the last year.