About 1.44 million U.S. middle and high school students were vaping in early 2025, and nearly two in three of them used a single disposable brand: Geek Bar. That is the central finding of a Public Health Alert published Oct. 5, 2026, by the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) with NEJM Evidence. The same analysis estimates that about 460,000 students used nicotine pouches, most of them ZYN.
For parents, the brand detail matters. The device kids are most likely to carry is a flavored, throwaway vape that the authors describe as having "a digital screen that animates during use." The Food and Drug Administration has said Geek Bar products are not authorized for U.S. sale, and in December 2024 it warned 115 retailers over sales of Geek Bar and other unauthorized e-cigarettes.
