--- title: Researchers Studied High Schoolers' Trash to Look for E-Cigs description: A pair of researchers studied garbage at 12 California high schools to find out which tobacco products and vapes teenagers are using. canonical: https://time.com/5697131/trash-tobacco-use-study/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-10T17:05:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T08:41:11.539Z article:section: Health og:title: Researchers Went Through High Schoolers' Trash to Find Out Which Tobacco Products They're Using og:description: Here's what they found og:url: https://time.com/5697131/trash-tobacco-use-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2ff313aaf64ff90/698a041597cdff789a6b9a9d/cigarette-butts-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2120 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: Discarded cigarette butts on ground og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers Went Through High Schoolers' Trash to Find Out Which Tobacco Products They're Using twitter:description: Here's what they found twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2ff313aaf64ff90/698a041597cdff789a6b9a9d/cigarette-butts-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 05:08 video:published: 2019-09-18 section: health topics: e-cigarettes, JUUL, youth vaping, nicotine addiction, social media marketing, FDA regulation, flavored e-cigarette ban, public health, tobacco use genre: news, investigative report tones: concerned, critical, informative, debating emotions: concern (high), fear (medium), frustration (medium), skepticism (low) sentiment: negative audience: parents, teenagers, public health observers, policy makers, general news audience people: Ms. Gold organizations: JUUL, FDA, Trump administration, Big Tobacco products: JUUL, e-cigarettes, flavored e-cigarettes, cigarettes content_suitability: health controversy [00:00-05:08]; drugs and alcohol [00:00-05:08] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Researchers Went Through High Schoolers' Trash to Find Out Which Tobacco Products They're Using. Here's What They Found > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4f3a9a3b-dfe6-460e-a770-a7b7f8440d22&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The New American Addiction [Watch (HLS stream): The New American Addiction](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uWfyRNnQ.m3u8) (5:08)  _Published 2019-09-18. How JUUL hooked kids and ignited a public health crisis_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video examines JUUL's rise in the e-cigarette market and its appeal to teenagers, following the vaping-related lung illness reports of 2019. It covers accounts from students and a school presenter, the company's marketing and social media activity, and its claims of being a safer alternative to cigarettes. It also includes health experts' concerns about nicotine addiction and debate over whether flavored e-cigarettes should be removed from the market. ## Key points - The company's device has dominated the market, in part because of its appeal to teenagers. (00:28) - A speaker says the product is more addictive than any product marketed to kids in decades. (00:46) - Youth tobacco use surged from 2017 to 2018, drawing regulatory attention and investigations. (01:25) - A former student says a JUUL representative at a school seminar said the product was completely safe while declining to want the speaker as a customer. (01:44) - The company said it ended its educational outreach programs in 2018, after grants had funded youth prevention and wellness programs. (02:14) - JUUL shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts in 2018, yet young people continued promoting it to peers. (02:40) - A physician says the long-term effects of electronic nicotine delivery systems are not yet known, but nicotine increases addiction risk. (03:00) - In September the FDA warned JUUL to stop marketing itself as less harmful than cigarettes without authorization. (03:31) - A speaker argues that removing e-cigarettes while cigarettes remain on the market does not make sense, since cigarettes are more lethal. (04:25) - One speaker claims that for every adult who might quit smoking using an e-cigarette, 80 kids will be initiated into tobacco use. (04:36) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:09] Vaping illness reports and public fear. Reports of lung illnesses linked to e-cigarettes escalate fear, and JUUL becomes the focus. - [00:09 to 00:31] JUUL's market dominance and appeal to teens. The company dominates the market, partly due to its appeal to teenagers. - [00:31 to 01:25] Perceptions of the product and youth use. Students describe how the product looks and feels, and a speaker describes its addictiveness. - [01:25 to 02:02] Regulatory scrutiny and school experiences. Youth tobacco use rose, prompting investigations, and a former student describes a school seminar. - [02:02 to 02:47] Grants, social media and marketing. The company's outreach programs and social media promotion are discussed, along with its shutdown of accounts. - [02:47 to 03:31] Health concerns and FDA action. Experts describe the health risks and the unknown long-term effects, and the FDA challenges JUUL's claims. - [03:31 to 04:25] Debate over harm reduction and flavor bans. Some doctors see public health potential, and a plan to remove flavored e-cigarettes is debated. - [04:25 to 05:08] Concluding views on the generation affected. Speakers argue about the relative harm of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and the effect on youth. ## Key quotes - [00:46] Unnamed speaker: "We're dealing with a product that is more addictive than any product we've marketed to kids in decades." - [01:37] Former student: "For my classmates who were already vaping, it was a sigh of relief because now they were able to vape without any concern." - [02:02] Unnamed speaker: "These are kids who would otherwise not have been initiated into tobacco use." - [02:56] Unnamed speaker: "A lot of my experience with JUUL come from peer to peer." - [04:08] Unnamed speaker: "So to me, it kind of doesn't make sense to remove a much less harmful product from the market while leaving the most lethal product, the cigarette, on the market." ## Questions this video answers - Why has JUUL dominated the e-cigarette market? [00:24] - How did JUUL's marketing appeal to teenagers? [00:31] - What regulatory actions followed the rise in youth tobacco use? [01:25] - Did JUUL end its social media promotions and educational programs? [02:14] - What did the FDA do in response to JUUL's marketing claims? [03:31] - What are the arguments for and against removing flavored e-cigarettes? [04:08] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:00-05:08]: Discusses vaping-related lung illnesses, nicotine addiction and public health risks. - drugs and alcohol [00:00-05:08]: Focuses on nicotine products and youth use of e-cigarettes.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Oct 10, 2019 5:05 PM UTC How JUUL hooked kids and ignited a public health crisis  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Oct 10, 2019 5:05 PM UTC The National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) is perhaps the most conventional way to learn which tobacco products young people are using. But researchers from the University of California San Francisco found a more creative method: going through high schoolers’ trash. From July 2018 to April 2019, researchers conducted a garbology study of 12 California public high schools, according to [a report](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6840a4.htm?s%5Fcid=mm6840a4%5Fw) published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They scoured the parking lots and perimeters of the schools, searching for discarded e-cigarettes, tobacco cigarettes and marijuana products, in hopes of both learning what kids are using—and what they’re throwing away. In total, they found about 170 e-cigarette waste products, mostly at higher-income high schools. The majority were either nicotine pods and caps made by market-leading company [Juul](https://time.com/5680988/juul-vaping-health-crisis/), or by other brands that work in Juul vaporizers. Ninety-nine percent of identifiable caps indicated flavors other than tobacco, such as mint and mango. Kids are widely thought to be attracted to flavored tobacco products, recently leading the Trump administration, and [several states](https://time.com/5685936/state-vaping-bans/), to push forward plans to pull flavored e-cigarettes from the market. Last fall, Juul voluntarily stopped selling all but mint, menthol and tobacco flavors in most stores. If anything, the researchers’ findings may be an underestimate of e-cigarette use in high schools. (And, of course, it’s impossible to prove that high school students were the ones who threw away these products.) Data from the [most recent NYTS](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/09/11/trump-administration-combating-epidemic-youth-ecigarette-use-plan-clear-market.html), released almost six months after the study concluded, suggests that, at a time when less than 6% of high school students smoke, about 27.5% have recently used e-cigarettes. That widespread use, along with a mysterious [outbreak of vaping-related lung diseases](https://time.com/5692387/vaping-related-death-toll-18/) apparently linked to [products containing THC](https://time.com/5688229/cdc-thc-vaping-deaths/), is contributing to mounting panic over youth e-cig use. Across schools, the researchers also found 620 cigarette butts—about 40% of those that could be identified were menthol-flavored—and 14 [cannabis waste products](https://time.com/5670147/vaping-marijuana-lung-disease/), such as vape pens, cartridges and packaging. They also found 87 pieces of trash from little cigars or cigarillos, predominantly at lower-income schools. The findings aren’t only about widespread tobacco use (and divergent product use, depending on income level)—they also point to an emerging environmental concern, the researchers write in their field notes. Several e-cigarette components require special care for disposal, including the lithium ion batteries that power many vaporizing devices and the leftover liquid nicotine in vaping cartridges, which can be harmful to [young children](https://time.com/47754/in-the-hands-of-babes-e-cigarettes-can-be-deadly/), pets and the environment. The garbology study suggests many young users aren’t taking the proper steps to recycle or safely dispose of their products. “Measures are needed to eliminate environmental contamination from e-cigarette, combustible tobacco product, and cannabis product waste in and around schools,” the authors write. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5697131/trash-tobacco-use-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5697131/trash-tobacco-use-study/"},"headline":"Researchers Went Through High Schoolers' Trash to Find Out Which Tobacco Products They're Using. 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