2025 Monitoring the Future Survey Shows Youth Tobacco Use Remains a Serious Problem, Underscoring Need to Reverse Federal Cuts that Threaten Progress

Statement of Yolonda C. Richardson, President and CEO, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
December 17, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. - While the U.S. has made great progress in reducing youth use of tobacco products, the 2025 Monitoring the Future survey released today shows that youth tobacco use is still a serious public health problem and underscores the need for continued action to reduce all forms of tobacco product use among our nation's kids.

The good news in the survey is that youth cigarette smoking rates remain near record lows. However, there were no statistically significant declines in youth tobacco product use in the past year - either for individual products or overall. About one in five high school seniors still report current use (in the past 30 days) of any tobacco product, including 15.7% who use e-cigarettes. In addition, current use of nicotine pouches among high school seniors increased from 1.4% in 2023 to 4.4% in 2025. E-cigarettes and nicotine pouches are heavily promoted to young people on social media, sold in kid-friendly flavors, and contain high concentrations of nicotine that can quickly addict kids.

These survey results show that we can't take our collective foot off the gas when it comes to protecting kids from tobacco product use. Unfortunately, the current U.S. Administration has done the opposite by eliminating the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. These actions have decimated the nation's tobacco control infrastructure, imperiling critical CDC support for tobacco prevention programs in every state that has helped drive progress and halting the CDC's highly successful Tips from Former Smokers public education campaign. Unless these actions are reversed, our progress in reducing youth tobacco use is at risk. It is especially critical that Congress act quickly to appropriate FY 2026 funding for the CDC's tobacco control program, as the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to do.

We can't let up in efforts to protect kids, especially when tobacco companies continue to spend billions on marketing and are continually introducing new products aimed at addicting another generation of customers.