Local youth leaders mobilize against tobacco marketing at statewide summit

Despite progress, more than 1 in 10 New York high school youth still use e-cigarettes

TOBACCO-FREE CNY, JULY 21, 2026 – Despite significant progress in reducing youth vaping in New York, more than one in 10 high school students still use e-cigarettes, and nicotine pouch use is rising in popularity. As manipulative tobacco marketing continues to attract and addict young people to nicotine, local teens are stepping up to fight back.

7 Central New York students recently joined more than 90 teens from across the state at SUNY Oswego for the three-day All-Around New York Youth Summit designed to inform, involve and inspire them to fight the tobacco industry’s influence in their home communities.

Vaping drops but e-cigarettes are still popular among youth
According to the 2024 New York Youth Tobacco Survey, e-cigarettes remain the most used tobacco product among high school students. Efforts by the New York State Tobacco Control Program have helped reduce youth use from 18.7% in 2022 to 13.1% in 2024. Despite this progress, more than one in 10 youth still use e-cigarettes and nicotine pouch use among this group doubled during the same time period.

Teens prepare to take action
During the three-day summit, teens developed leadership, communication and mobilization skills by engaging in workshops, learning storytelling techniques and creating displays for community education. They also planned and practiced activities to carry out locally. Their aim is to raise awareness about industry tactics that normalize tobacco use—marketing sweet, low-cost products that appeal to young people and make it harder for current users to quit.

The teens are part of Reality Check of Tobacco-Free CNY, a program of the statewide Tobacco Control Program funded by the state’s Department of Health. Reality Check is a youth-led movement that empowers young people to become community leaders. Supported by adults, the initiative exposes the manipulative and deceptive marketing tactics of the tobacco industry. The local students that participated in this year’s event were from the Baldwinsville Central School District and the Liverpool Central School District.

For more information about Reality Check or Tobacco-Free CNY, visit www.tobaccofreecny.org.