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The use of electronic cigarettes by high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014 — a surprising boom that threatens to wipe out hard-won gains in the fight against teen smoking, a new government report says. The percentage of American high school students who smoked traditional cigarettes on a regular basis dropped from 15.8% in 2011 to 9.2% in 2014, according to a study by a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that drop has been more than offset by increases in e-cigarette use, which increased from 1.5% of high school students in 2011 to 13.4% in 2014, the study says. (Kaplan and Brown, 4/16)

E-cigarettes have arrived in the life of the American teenager. Use of the devices among middle- and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014, according to federal data released on Thursday, bringing the share of high school students who use them to 13 percent — more than smoke traditional cigarettes. The sharp rise, together with a substantial increase in the use of hookah pipes, led to 400,000 additional young people using a tobacco product in 2014, the first increase in years, though researchers pointed out it fell within the margin of error. (Tavernise, 4/16)

A national survey confirms earlier indications that e-cigarettes are now more popular among teenage students than traditional cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, federal health officials reported Thursday. The findings prompted strong warnings from Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about the effects of any form of nicotine on young people. "We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age," Frieden said. (Stein, 4/16)

Not everyone sees such cause for alarm in the new numbers. “The CDC should really be jumping for joy at the fact that smoking rates are declining. This is a huge success,” said Michael Siegel, a professor and tobacco-control specialist at Boston University’s School of Public Health. “Instead, they are using this as another opportunity to demonize e-cigarettes.” Siegel said he agrees that minors shouldn’t have access to any tobacco product. But he said the CDC numbers suggest that rather than serving as a gateway to cigarette smoking, e-cigarettes actually might be diverting teens from traditional cigarettes. (Dennis, 4/16)

Electronic cigarette use tripled and hookah use doubled among U.S. teenagers in 2014, even as fewer of them light up traditional cigarettes, according to a government survey published Thursday. For the first time, more high-school students puffed on e-cigarettes last year—13.4%—than regular smokes—9.2%. They also tried hookahs, or water pipes, as often as traditional cigarettes for the first time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Esterl, 4/16)

About one in four teens use tobacco in some form, from pipes to cigars to smokeless tobacco. Among high school students, 9.4% use a hookah, a tobacco pipe with a long tube that draws smoke through water. (Szabo, 4/16)

Teen smoking hit a new low last year while the popularity of electronic cigarettes and water pipes boomed, a government report shows. The number of high school students who tried e-cigarettes tripled in one year — to more than 13 percent. (Stobbe, 4/16)