Key Points: 

• South Carolina’s vaping industry provided more than $369 million in economic activity in 2018 while generating 1,671 direct vaping-related jobs. Sales of disposables and prefilled cartridges in South Carolina exceeded $8 million in 2016.

• As of January 7, 2020, SCDHEC has reported 39 cases of vaping-related lung illnesses, including one death. SCDHEC does not give any information on substances vaped. SCDHEC earns an F for its reporting on vaping-related lung illnesses.

• In 2017, only 1.5 percent of South Carolina high school students reported daily e-cigarette use. More data is needed.   

• Only 1 percent of FDA retail compliance checks in South Carolina resulted in sales of e-cigarettes to minors from January 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.

• South Carolina spends very little on tobacco prevention. In 2019, South Carolina dedicated only $5 million on tobacco control, or 2 percent of what the state received in tobacco settlement payments and taxes.