How Do Adolescents Get Their E-Cigarettes and Other Electronic Vaping Devices?

Purpose:More adolescents “vape” (use e-cigarettes and similar devices) than smoke, but little is known about how underage users obtain vaping devices. This knowledge could inform efforts to prevent youth access.Design:Original cross-sectional survey with social media recruitment.Settings:Online.Participants:A total of 1729 adolescents (2809 qualified on screener; completion rate 61.6%) aged 15 to 17 years who vaped in the past 30 days.Measures:Adolescents’ vaping attitudes, ownership of vaping devices, how they obtain devices, and frequency of borrowing others’ devices.Analysis:Logistic regression.Results:Most adolescents (78.2%) owned a vaping device. The most common sources were purchasing from a store or online (31.1%), buying from another person (16.3%), or giving someone money to purchase for them (15.0%). The majority (72.8%) had used someone else’s vaping device in the past 30 days. Adolescents who vaped more often, did not own a vaping device, vaped in social situations, and had previously been re...