More Kids Turning to Tobacco, CDC Says Vaping Is Gateway to Cigarettes

A growing number high school and middle school kids are using tobacco products again.

The Centers for Disease Control says the popularity of vaping, also known as e-cigarettes, is growing among high school and middle school kids, and that's the most likely reason for the additional increase in tobacco usage.

Brian King with the CDC says, "We were making progress, and now you have the introduction of a product that is heavily popular among youth that has completely erased that progress."

Vaping is basically inhaling vapor by an e-cigarette which simulates the experience of smoking a cigarette.

The CDC found that students often both smoke and vape and that vaping is a gateway to regular cigarette smoking.

Almost a half-million people die each year due to smoking and it's the nation's leading cause of "preventable" deaths.