“Troubling” growth of teen e-cigarette usage

(AP) – The rising number of teenagers using e-cigarettes is worrying state health officials.

The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth recently released a report showing that middle school and high school use of traditional cigarettes had dropped considerably from 2001.

But executive director Marty Kilgore said e-cigarettes use among teens is "sharply climbing" and more than twice as many high school students use them over traditional cigarettes, a trend she called troubling.

The report also showed that Virginia teens are drinking less soda. About 17 percent of teens drank a soda a day in 2015, down from 24 percent in 2011.