High-nicotine vapes: half of young daily vapers use them, study finds

Young adults who vape every day have moved sharply towards high-nicotine e-cigarettes, and those who use them find it harder to quit, according to a study by researchers at the University of California San Diego published in the journal Tobacco Control on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Using national survey data from the United States, the team found that by 2022 almost half (49.2%) of 18- to 24-year-old daily vapers were using products with a nicotine concentration of 4% or more, up from 3.1% in 2017.

Nicotine is the substance that makes tobacco and vaping products addictive. A higher concentration delivers more of it with each puff, which can make the habit stronger and harder to drop. The study's central finding is that the youngest adults are the group most likely to be using the strongest products, and that this shift happened in only a few years: in 2017 very few young daily vapers used such high concentrations, and by 2022 nearly one in two did.

That matters because e-cigarettes are often presented as a way for adult smokers to move away from cigarettes. The authors argue that the US regulator's approach rests partly on the idea that the benefit to adults who smoke outweighs the risk of young people becoming dependent, and they say that balance needs to be looked at again in light of the data. In other words, the products that may help some older smokers switch could be locking younger users into long-term nicotine use.

The quitting finding adds to the concern. Among people who were vaping in 2019, those using high-nicotine devices were noticeably less likely to have stopped by 2022. The researchers are careful to say this does not prove the high nicotine caused the difficulty, since people who choose stronger products may differ in other ways. But the pattern points in the same direction as the rise in use: stronger products, more young users, and fewer who manage to stop.

For readers in India, the legal picture is different. India banned the production, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising of e-cigarettes in 2019, first by an ordinance in September and then through the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act passed by Parliament. A first offence of making or selling them can bring up to one year in jail, a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh, or both, and storing them is also punishable. The government cited rising use among young people and health risks when it brought in the ban. The US findings are a reminder of why young people are the focus of such rules, and of the risk posed by devices that still reach users through illegal channels.

Short-term: The study is likely to feed the US debate over which vaping products should stay on the market and at what nicotine strength, and to be cited by public health groups calling for limits on nicotine concentration.

Long-term: If regulators act on findings like these, nicotine caps or tighter approval rules for high-strength products could follow. For young users, the research underlines that stronger products may make quitting harder.

Who is affected: Young adults who vape, especially daily users aged 18 to 24; e-cigarette makers; US health regulators; and public health bodies in countries, including India, that are trying to keep nicotine products away from young people.

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