Maryland Youth Survey: Teen Vaping Down 45%, Sadness Still Elevated

The Maryland Department of Health this week released results from its 2024-2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and Youth Tobacco Survey, showing that high school e-cigarette use has fallen nearly 45 percent since 2018 — even as roughly three in ten Maryland students still report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

The combined survey, administered on-site in public middle and high schools every even year during the fall semester, merges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Survey with the federal Youth Tobacco Survey. It tracks behaviors tied to the leading causes of death and disability among adolescents, from substance use to violence and mental health.

Tobacco and cannabis trends move in the right direction

State officials credited the steep drop in vaping to targeted prevention work, including the Vape Experiment education campaign and the Maryland Responsible Tobacco Retailer Program's "21 or None" enforcement effort. Cannabis use among middle and high school students also declined in the new data, though the department cautioned that a notable share of students remain unaware of the health risks tied to cannabis. Outreach through the state's Be Cannabis Smart campaign will continue, and the department said it is working with the Maryland Cannabis Administration on a new teen-focused prevention campaign set to launch this fall.

The picture is not uniformly positive. The survey recorded a slight uptick in smokeless tobacco use among middle and high schoolers, and state officials flagged nicotine pouches as an emerging category that prevention programs will need to adapt to address — a pattern that mirrors how quickly nicotine products have evolved ahead of school-based education efforts nationwide.

A third of students still report persistent sadness

The mental health findings showed genuine improvement from the pandemic's peak but remain elevated by any historical measure. Some 31.7 percent of high school students and 31.9 percent of middle school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, down from 39.2 percent and 36.8 percent, respectively, in the 2021-2022 survey.

"The 2024-2025 YRBS/YTS data illustrate that Maryland's focus on mental health awareness, substance use prevention, and addressing adverse childhood experiences is making an impact, but more work is needed," Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani said in a statement. "Viewing the data as a narrative of progress and a roadmap for future action, the state remains dedicated to providing the health services our youth need to thrive in an increasingly complex world."

The state-level results echo national findings released last month in SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which likewise showed adolescent substance use and depression declining from pandemic-era highs while treatment access gaps persisted. Clinicians note that adolescents struggling with both mood symptoms and substance use often need integrated care for co-occurring conditions rather than sequential treatment for one problem at a time.

First look at social media habits

For the first time, the survey asked Maryland students about their social media use, finding that most middle and high schoolers engage with social platforms multiple times a day. State officials pointed to a 2023 U.S. Surgeon General advisory warning that children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face roughly double the risk of experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Maryland's Youth Digital Wellness Initiative, the department said, is intended to give young people practical tools to manage their digital lives while helping parents and educators encourage healthier technology habits.

The survey also documented rising reports of bullying and dating violence, with particularly pronounced impacts among LGBTQ+ youth — a finding officials said underscores the need for targeted intervention through programs such as Maryland's Behavior Intervention Series alongside existing anti-bullying work.

Local systems absorb the demand

Southern Maryland offers a window into how the state is trying to meet that demand. Organizations in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties received nearly $9 million combined in state behavioral health grants last year, funding programs that range from crisis stabilization and vaping education at Calvert County Behavioral Health to dialectical behavior therapy and substance use treatment for high-need youth through Charles County's Center for Children Inc. All three counties operate local behavioral health divisions with youth-focused counseling and crisis response, backed by regional mobile crisis teams that can respond directly to a young person in crisis.

State health officials said schools, local health departments, researchers and community organizations use the biennial survey data to steer policy, programming and funding decisions, and encouraged families to use the findings to open conversations with young people about substance use, mental health and online safety. Full statewide and county-level results are available through the department's Maryland Data and Analytics Tool.

Maryland residents can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, and the Maryland Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.