VOA慢速英语2020 美国学生中吸电子烟人数锐减（在线收听）

A U.S. government study has found that vaping rates among young students fell sharply this year. The drop comes after last year's sudden increase in vaping-related illnesses and deaths.

美国政府的一项研究发现，年轻学生中今年电子烟吸烟率急剧下降。原因是去年吸电子烟导致的相关疾病和死亡人数突然增加。

The national survey, released this week, showed that just under 20 percent of high school students said they were recent users of e-cigarettes and other vaping products. Just 5 percent of middle school students said they had recently used them.

本周发布的全国调查显示，只有不到20%的高中生称他们最近使用了电子烟等产品。只有5%的初中生表示他们最近有使用。

That marks a big decrease from a similar survey in 2019. The earlier survey found nearly 28 percent of high school students and 11 percent of middle school students had recently vaped.

与2019年的一项类似调查相比，这是一次锐减。上次调查发现近28%的高中生和11%的初中生最近吸过电子烟。

The 2020 survey was carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

这项2020年的调查由美国疾病控制预防中心和美国食品药品监督管理局联合进行。

About 20,000 American students took part in the survey from mid-January to mid-March. They were asked about the use of any vaping or tobacco products during the past month.

从1月中旬到3月中旬，大约有2万名美国学生参与了这项调查。他们被问到了上个月使用任何电子烟或烟草产品的情况。

While the number of students smoking cigarettes has reached all-time lows in recent years, the use of vaping products has exploded. Officials say the vaping increase was linked to popular e-cigarettes, like those made by Juul Labs of San Francisco.

尽管近年来吸烟学生人数已经达到历史最低点，但是使用电子烟的人数却猛增。有关官员表示，吸电子烟的增长跟一些流行的电子烟产品有关，例如旧金山的朱尔实验室制造的产品。

Earlier this year, the FDA barred some flavors from vaping devices mainly used by minors. And federal law now bans sales of all tobacco products and e-cigarettes to anyone under age 21.

今年早些时候，美国食品药品监督管理局禁止了某些风味的电子烟产品，这些产品的用户主要是未成年人。联邦法律目前禁止向21岁以下的任何人出售所有烟草产品和电子烟。

Public health experts have wondered if last year's sudden increase in vaping related illnesses may have caused some students to give up vaping. Most of the cases happened in August and September. By year's end, more than 2,600 illnesses and close to 60 deaths had been reported.

公共卫生专家想弄清楚去年吸电子烟相关疾病的猛增是否会让一些学生放弃使用电子烟。这些病例大多数发生在8月和9月。到年底已经报告了2600多例病例，有近60人死亡。

Most of those who got sick said they had vaped mixtures containing THC. That is the substance in marijuana that produces a high. Health officials eventually centered their investigation on these THC products and on a chemical compound called vitamin E acetate, which had been added to some THC vaping liquids.

大多数患者表示，他们使用了含有四氢大麻酚混合物的电子烟。那是大麻中一种会产生兴奋的物质。卫生官员最终将调查焦点集中在这些四氢大麻酚产品和一种名为维生素E乙酸酯的化合物上，该化合物一直被添加到某些四氢大麻酚蒸气液中。

Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said in a statement the survey showed a "meaningful drop" in teen vaping. But he criticized the Trump administration for not following through on a promise to ban all flavored e-cigarettes. The policy did not cover disposable e-cigarettes, which saw a big increase in this year's survey.

无烟儿童运动的马特·迈尔斯在一份声明中表示，调查显示青少年的吸烟现象显著下降。但是他批评川普政府没有遵守禁止所有风味电子烟的承诺。该政策未涵盖一次性电子烟，这种电子烟在今年的调查中大幅增加。

"As long as any flavored e-cigarettes are left on the market, kids will get their hands on them and we will not solve this crisis," Myers said.

迈尔斯表示：“只要市场上还有风味电子烟，孩子们就能接触到它们，我们就无法解决这种危机。”