Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Tuesday it is joining forces with the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids on a $160 million initiative that will seek an end to what's been called an "epidemic" of youth e-cigarette use.

“E-cigarette companies and the tobacco companies that back them are preying on America’s youth. They are using the same marketing tactics that once lured kids to cigarettes, and the result is an epidemic that is spiraling out of control and putting kids in danger of addiction and serious health problems,” former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, said in a statement. "The decline in youth smoking is one of the great health victories of this century, and we can’t allow tobacco companies to reverse that progress.”

The three-year endeavor will back legislative and regulatory solutions at the city and state levels that aim to stop the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, eliminate e-cigarette marketing appealing to kids, establish more controls over online e-cigarette sales to prevent youth purchases and ensure the federal review of e-cigarette products – a regulatory responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration that has faced years of delay.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids will lead the “Protect Kids: Fight Flavored E-Cigarettes” program, according to a press release.

“Tobacco remains the no. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States," Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement. "This game-changing investment will provide critical resources to help the public health community stand up against Juul and other e-cigarette companies that peddle e-cigarettes to our kids and ensure that we don’t lose another generation of kids to nicotine addiction.”

A federal analysis of e-cigarette use among young people between 2016 and 2017 also found that about 96% of users between the ages of 12 and 17 started with a flavored e-cigarette product, and 97% reportedly had used a flavored e-cigarette product in the past month.

Experts warn that the presence of addictive nicotine in e-cigarette and vaping products makes them especially dangerous for youth, as it can harm the developing brain. The devices also may present a pathway to the use of traditional cigarettes.