The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study to assess the use and awareness of electronic cigarettes in current, former, and non-smokers. U.S. adults over the age of eighteen were surveyed in 2010 by mail and the web. In 2011, the survey was web-based only.
According to the 2010 mail survey, the overall awareness of electronic cigarettes was 38.5% and 40.9% on the web. The study conducted in 2011 was web-based only and showed a 57.9 percentage of awareness.
When the initial survey was conducted in 2010, 2.1% of all respondents in the mail survey and 3.3% of the web study had used electronic cigarettes. The 2011 web survey reported 6.2% ever use of e-cigs among all participants.
The use of e-cigs in smokers increased from 9.8% in 2010 to 21.2% in 2011. Ever use of electronic cigarettes in former smokers increased from 2.5% to 7.4%, and among non-smokers the percentage of participants who had ever tried e-cigs remained steady at 1.3%.
Awareness and use has increased from 2010-2011. Most electronic cigarette users are drawn to these products because of a desire to quit or cut back on tobacco cigarettes. Despite fears of growing awareness and publicity, there is no increase in the number of nonsmokers using electronic cigarettes.
Sources: http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/p0228_electronic_cigarettes.html
http://ntr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/02/20/ntr.ntt013.abstract
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com