Public health advocates warn about what federal cuts could mean for teen vaping

The number of Utah minors who vape has substantially diminished since a 2019 peak. Still, vaping is a notorious issue in schools — so much so that the state banned flavored e-cigarettes with lawmakers hoping to prevent children from starting nicotine addictions. 

However, advocates worry that federal cuts may halt that progress, as mass layoffs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have an impact on the government’s anti-tobacco programs.

That’s because major players like Brian King, head of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products division, were fired in addition to other cuts to the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, an office that aims to prevent tobacco use, especially among children. 

Some health advocacy groups are sounding the alarm on how the cuts may harm children in the country and the state. 

Yolonda Richardson, president and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, issued a news release criticizing the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget plan over “devastating” funding cuts to health agencies, eliminating public health programs such as the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, which includes the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.

With House split on whether to keep ban on flavored vape sales, status quo remains

“These massive budget cuts would cause enormous harm to the nation’s health, and they are at odds with the Administration’s own stated commitment to reduce chronic disease and protect children’s health, as well as to save money,” Richardson wrote.

Tobacco kills nearly 500,000 Americans a year and costs over $241 billion in annual health care expenses, she said, “more than 60% of which is paid by taxpayers through government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.”

The cuts could also impact national educational efforts that prevented nearly 450,000 young people from starting e-cigarette use between 2023 and 2024, according to the FDA.

The move also caused concern among some Utah Republicans who believe the government can juggle multiple priorities simultaneously, including Mackey Smith, former vice chair of the Salt Lake County Republican Party and current State Central Committee member for the state’s chapter of the party.

While anti-tobacco campaigns may not be as daunting as other priorities, like national security and the deficit, the government can still work diligently to “get low-hanging fruit wins, like addressing vaping and these public health topics,” Smith said. 

Smith is aware of public health campaigns in Utah. But for him, focusing just on them isn’t enough. The solution, he said, may be in enforcing already existing laws that would discourage underage smoking and vaping.

“The big piece is there already are laws that enable the FDA to come in and enforce this,” he said. “But there are a lot of these products that are sold illegally, that are not on the approved flavors list, so to speak, and they’re being peddled to kids.”

This doesn’t mean he supports “the massive expansion of a bureaucratic state,” he said, describing some of the federal cuts as “good,” and some layoffs as “inevitable.”

“I do feel in some ways, we were overbloated from a personnel standpoint at the federal level,” he said. “However, I wouldn’t say that you just do massive layoffs all at once. You need to be using the scalpel for surgeries as needed, not a saw.” 

In 2019, 12.4% of Utah students in grades 8, 10 and 12 reported vaping. It was a peak, more than doubling what was seen in 2013. The number has since decreased with 7.5% students reporting in a school survey they had recently vaped in 2023. But, with less regulatory oversight, supporters of anti-smoking efforts say the tobacco industry may thrive.

Advocates from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids warned that smoking is a primary driver of chronic disease including cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

“The gutting of these agencies conflicts with the repeatedly stated commitments of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy to reduce chronic disease and protect children’s health,” Richardson said in a past statement. “We cannot achieve these goals and make America healthy if our nation backs off its efforts to reduce tobacco use.”