Hawaii Youth Vaping Plunges as More Adults Vape Than Smoke

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Key Points:

• Survey Overview: Newly released 2025 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) results show youth cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use at their lowest recorded levels, while adult vaping prevalence now exceeds combustible cigarette smoking.

• Youth Smoking Reaches Historic Low: In 2025, only 2.9 percent of Hawaii high school students currently smoked combustible cigarettes, the lowest rate recorded since the YRBS began surveying Hawaii students in 1993.

• Three Decades of Smoking Declines: Current cigarette smoking among Hawaii high school students declined from 28.2 percent in 1993 to 2.9 percent in 2025, representing an approximately 89.7 percent reduction.

• Youth Vaping Plummets: Current e-cigarette use among Hawaii high school students declined 66 percent between 2019 and 2025, falling from 30.6 percent to 10.4 percent.

• Vaping Experimentation Declines: In 2025, only 21.9 percent of Hawaii high school students reported ever trying an e-cigarette, a 54.7 percent decline from 48.4 percent in 2019.

• Frequent and Daily Vaping Falls: Between 2019 and 2025, frequent e-cigarette use among Hawaii high school students declined 49 percent, while daily vaping decreased by 48 percent.

• Youth Smoking Continues to Fall: Despite concerns that youth vaping would lead to a resurgence in combustible cigarette use, Hawaii's youth smoking rate has continued its long-term decline as e-cigarettes have become more widely available.

• Adult Vaping Surpasses Smoking: According to the 2025 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 10.2 percent of Hawaii adults currently used e-cigarettes, compared with 8.3 percent who smoked combustible cigarettes.

• More Adults Vape Than Smoke: In 2025, approximately 117,413 Hawaii adults used e-cigarettes, compared with 95,542 adult smokers, representing an estimated 21,871 more adults vaping than smoking.

• Adult Smoking Increases Slightly: Between 2024 and 2025, adult smoking prevalence in Hawaii increased from 8.1 percent to 8.3 percent, a relative increase of approximately 2.5 percent and an estimated 2,388 additional adult smokers.

• Economic Burden of Smoking: WalletHub estimated that combustible cigarette smoking carried an annual economic cost of $96,999 per Hawaii smoker in 2025, including $4,374 in health care costs.

• Potential Economic Costs: Applying WalletHub's estimates to Hawaii's approximately 2,388 additional adult smokers suggests more than $231 million in associated annual economic costs, including approximately $10.4 million in health care costs. These figures are illustrative, not documented new expenditures.

• Proposed Flavor Restrictions: In 2025, House Bill 756 and Senate Bill 972 sought to prohibit the sale of flavored nicotine and tobacco products, potentially restricting access to smoke-free alternatives used by adults.

• Vapor Product Directory Enacted: In 2026, Hawaii enacted House Bill 1573, establishing an electronic smoking device and e-liquid directory requiring manufacturers to certify annually that their products have received FDA marketing authorization. Products not listed in the directory cannot be legally sold.

• FDA Authorization Concerns: The FDA's lengthy premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process and limited number of authorized products have raised concerns about market concentration, reduced consumer choice, and the ability of independent manufacturers to compete.

• Small Business and Consumer Impacts: By linking retail availability to FDA marketing authorization, Hawaii's vapor product directory could substantially reduce product selection for adult consumers and independent vape retailers.

• Disposable Vape Restrictions: Hawaii also enacted legislation restricting disposable electronic smoking devices, effective January 1, 2027, citing environmental concerns associated with discarded products.

• Potential Unintended Consequences: Restrictions on disposable e-cigarettes and other smoke-free products could shift some consumers toward illicit markets or limit preferred alternatives for adults seeking to avoid combustible cigarettes.

• Policy Implications: As Hawaii prepares for the 2027 legislative session, lawmakers must consider how new product directories, disposable vape restrictions, and proposed flavor bans may affect youth prevention, adult access, and the state's broader tobacco harm reduction goals.

• Bottom Line: Hawaii's youth cigarette smoking and vaping rates have reached historic lows, while more adults now use e-cigarettes than combustible cigarettes. With adult smoking increasing slightly and new vapor product restrictions approaching implementation, policymakers should evaluate whether existing regulations effectively protect youth while accounting for differences in product risk, adult access to smoke-free alternatives, and the potential unintended consequences of additional restrictions.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the 2025 results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for Hawaii high school students. The biennial survey assesses youth risk behaviors, including dietary habits, physical activity, mental health, and substance use.

There is welcome news for policymakers: youth use of traditional tobacco products is at historic lows, while youth e-cigarette use has fallen to its lowest recorded levels. These findings coincide with the release of the CDC's 2025 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) results, an annual survey assessing various health-related behaviors among adults in all 50 states.

According to the YRBS, in 2025, only 2.9 percent of Hawaii high school students reported current use of combustible cigarettes. Current use is defined as having used the product on at least one occasion in the 30 days preceding the survey. This is the lowest level recorded by the YRBS, which first surveyed Hawaii high school students in 1993, when 28.2 percent were current smokers.

E-cigarettes entered the U.S. marketplace in 2007, when 12.8 percent of Hawaii high school students were current smokers. Since then, current smoking among high school students in the Aloha State has declined by an average of approximately 5.7 percent annually.

In recent years, e-cigarettes, particularly their use among youth, have faced increasing scrutiny as policymakers responded to rising rates of youth vaping. Yet the latest YRBS findings indicate that vaping among Hawaii high school students has fallen to its lowest recorded levels.

In 2025, only 21.9 percent of Hawaii high school students reported ever trying an e-cigarette, while 10.4 percent were currently vaping. Similar to national trends, youth vaping in the Aloha State peaked in 2019, when nearly half (48.4 percent) of high school students had tried vaping and nearly one-third (30.6 percent) reported current e-cigarette use.

Between 2019 and 2025, ever-use of e-cigarettes declined by 54.7 percent, while current use decreased by 66 percent. During the same period, frequent vaping, defined as use on 20 or more days in the preceding month, declined by 49 percent, while daily use declined by 48 percent.

While policymakers have intensely focused on youth use of tobacco and vapor products, they have often overlooked the data on adult use of these same products. Not only do the YRBS findings demonstrate that increased youth vaping did not coincide with a resurgence in youth cigarette smoking, but the introduction and growing popularity of e-cigarettes have also coincided with substantial declines in adult smoking rates.

Notably, in the Aloha State, more adults now report using e-cigarettes than traditional combustible cigarettes.

According to the 2025 BRFSS, 8.3 percent of Hawaii adults aged 18 years or older were current smokers, representing approximately 95,542 adults. Meanwhile, 10.2 percent of adults reported current e-cigarette use, representing approximately 117,413 adults. In other words, there were an estimated 21,871 more adults vaping than smoking in Hawaii in 2025.

Unfortunately, adult smoking rates increased slightly over the past year. Between 2024 and 2025, the percentage of Hawaii adults who were current smokers increased from 8.1 percent to 8.3 percent, a relative increase of approximately 2.5 percent. This represents an estimated 2,388 additional adults smoking. Although relatively small, this increase could have significant economic consequences.

WalletHub estimates that the annual economic cost of smoking per smoker in Hawaii in 2025 was $96,999, including $4,374 in health care costs. Applying these estimates to the additional 2,388 adult smokers suggests more than $231 million in annual economic costs, including approximately $10.4 million in health care costs. These figures illustrate the substantial financial burden of combustible cigarette use, but they are illustrative estimates, not direct measurements of newly incurred costs.

Hawaii policymakers must consider the latest data on youth and adult tobacco and vapor product use when developing public health policies. Over the past several years, Aloha State lawmakers have introduced legislation seeking to impose increasingly restrictive regulations, higher taxes, and outright prohibitions on nicotine products, including categories of products that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined can meet the statutory standard of being "appropriate for the protection of public health."

In 2025, House Bill 756 and Senate Bill 972 sought to prohibit the sale of flavored nicotine and tobacco products. In 2026, lawmakers enacted House Bill 1573, establishing an electronic smoking device and e-liquid directory that requires manufacturers to certify annually that their products have received FDA marketing authorization. The law prohibits selling products not included in the state directory.

The FDA's premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process has faced longstanding criticism for lengthy review times and the limited number of products that receive marketing authorization. Critics argue that the process has failed to adequately reflect consumer demand and has disproportionately benefited a small number of manufacturers, including major tobacco companies that also manufacture combustible cigarettes. By tying market access to FDA authorization, Hawaii's directory could further limit the products available to adult consumers and independent vape retailers.

The Hawaii Legislature also enacted legislation restricting the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, effective January 1, 2027. Although the legislation aims to address legitimate environmental concerns about discarded devices, prohibitions may have unintended consequences, including shifting consumers toward illicit or unregulated markets. Restrictions that reduce access to preferred smoke-free alternatives could also discourage some adults from switching away from combustible cigarettes.

As lawmakers prepare for the 2027 legislative session, the latest youth and adult tobacco use data should play a central role in evaluating Hawaii's approach to nicotine regulation. Youth cigarette smoking has fallen to historic lows, youth vaping has declined dramatically since 2019, and more adults now report using e-cigarettes than smoking combustible cigarettes. These public health developments matter and should not be overlooked when considering additional restrictions.

Rather than continuing to expand prohibitions and regulatory barriers without fully examining their potential consequences, policymakers should assess whether existing laws are effectively protecting youth while preserving access to lower-risk alternatives for adults who smoke.

With adult smoking rates showing a slight increase and the state's new vapor product restrictions approaching implementation, Hawaii has an opportunity to pursue policies grounded in evidence, proportional to the risks of different nicotine products, and focused on reducing the harms of combustible tobacco. The goal should not simply be to reduce access to nicotine products, but to reduce smoking-related disease and death without undermining the progress already achieved.

Nothing in this analysis is intended to influence the passage of legislation, and it does not necessarily represent the views of Tobacco Harm Reduction 101.