Tobacco & Vaping

Smoking is estimated to cause nearly 1 of every 5 deaths in the United States and more than 1 of every 4 deaths in Pennsylvania.

As cigarette smoking has declined, the tobacco industry has developed new products to deliver nicotine, ranging from inexpensive small cigars to e-cigarettes. While cigarette use among youth has decreased nationally, use of these alternative tobacco products is skyrocketing.

This shift to other tobacco products underscores a need for increased efforts to protect children and teenagers from the marketing of products, such as candy and alcohol flavored e-cigarettes designed to entice minors.

Percentage of Pennsylvania Adult Smokers (2020)

  • 244,000 children under age 18 in Pennsylvania can expect to die prematurely from smoking.

  • Exposure to secondhand smoke is estimated to cause 41,000 deaths among U.S. adults every year.

  • For the first time in decades, overall tobacco use among youth increased in 2018 due to the use of e-cigarettes with high nicotine content, appealing flavors, and the ability to be easily concealed and used discreetly.

  • Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in Pennsylvania, killing more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined — with thousands more dying from other tobacco-related causes — such as fires caused by smoking and smokeless tobacco use.

  • On average, smokers live 10 years fewer than non-smokers.

  • 22,000 adults die each year in Pennsylvania from smoking.

Factors Influencing Smoking & Vaping

Factors that can account for Pennsylvania’s high smoking rates include high levels of poverty, relatively low cigarette prices, ready availability of cigarettes, and smoking norms perpetuated by high rates of smoking.

In recent years, there has been in increase in popularity of e-cigarettes, especially among youth. Many e-cigarettes contain nicotine and other cancer-causing chemicals. More research is needed to determine their effects on health.

Smoking damages nearly every organ in the body and is associated with:

  • Heart disease

  • Stroke

    Respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

  • Diabetes

  • Multiple types of cancer

Research studies have found that children are twice as sensitive to tobacco advertising as adults and are more likely to be influenced to smoke by cigarette marketing than by peer pressure. One-third of underage experimentation with smoking is attributable to tobacco company advertising. That is why the tobacco Industry spends approximately $365.5 million each year on marketing in Pennsylvania alone.

Smoking-Caused Monetary Costs in Pennsylvania

Amounts do not include health costs caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, smoking-caused fires, smokeless tobacco use, or cigar and pipe smoking. Tobacco use also imposes additional costs such as workplace productivity losses and damage to property. *Source: Tobacco Free Kids

Proven Policies and Programs

Quitting smoking can have profound benefits on current and long-term health at any age, even among heavy and lifelong smokers. Local health departments play a significant role in helping their populations quit smoking. Beyond smoking cessation programs, a variety of other interventions are effective for smoking prevention and cessation.

Over several decades, excise taxes and smoking bans have been effective in preventing non-smokers from starting, increasing cessation, and decreasing smoking-related health problems. In 2019, Pennsylvania raised the legal tobacco purchase age to 21 in order to decrease the number of teens who become smokers.

Pennsylvania still retains many exemptions to the state’s indoor smoking restrictions, putting servers and casino workers at risk of secondhand smoke and its health harms.

Pennsylvania can implement policies, programs, and award funding to reduce the harms of smoking and vaping on the state’s communities.

For examples of communities preventing and controlling tobacco use, see the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Health Online Resource Center. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps provides a list of evidence-based strategies to address health issues such as tobacco control.

Smokefree.gov provides free, accurate and evidence-based information as well as professional assistance to support the immediate and long-term needs of smokers trying to quit.

Policy Priorities

  • Pennsylvania should reduce the number of indoor spaces that are exempted from indoor smoking restrictions.

  • Pennsylvania should fund smoking prevention and cessation programs for implementation by public health departments at the local level.

  • Pennsylvania should invest in smoking cessation media campaigns, flavor bans or restrictions, tobacco taxes, and other policy and program interventions that are proven to reduce smoking, particularly by young people.