Tobacco use in Connecticut 2021

• In 2020, 11.8% of adults smoked. Nationally, the rate was 15.5%.¹
• In 2019, 3.7% of high school students in Connecticut smoked cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 6.0%.²

• In 2018, 5.6% of adults in Connecticut used e-cigarettes.
• In 2020, 1.7% of adults in Connecticut  used smokeless tobacco.³
• In 2019, 27.0% of high school students in Connecticut used electronic vapor products on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 32.7%.²
• In 2019, 2.6% of high school students in Connecticut used chewing tobacco, snuff or dip on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 3.8%.²
• In 2019, 3.9% of high school students in Connecticut smoke cigars, cigarillos or little cigars on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 5.7%.²

• Connecticut received $473.2 million (estimated) in revenue from tobacco settlement payments and taxes in fiscal year 2021.⁴
• Of this, the state allocated $0 in state funds to tobacco prevention in fiscal year 2020, 0% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.⁴
• Smoking-related health care costs: $2.03 billion per year.⁴
• Smoking-related losses in productivity: $1.25 billion per year.⁵

Tobacco taxes

• Connecticut is ranked 2nd in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of $4.35 per pack (enacted December 2017), compared with the national average of $1.91. (The District of Columbia has the highest tax at $4.50 and Missouri has the lowest at 17 cents.) ^6,7
• Snuff is taxed $3.00 per ounce. Cigars are taxed at 50% of the wholesale sales price except the tax cannot exceed 50 cents per cigar. All other tobacco products are taxed at 50% of the manufacturer’s list price.^7,8

Clean indoor air ordinances

• Smoking is prohibited in all government workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, restaurants, bars (tobacco bars are exempt), casinos/gaming establishments (tribal establishments are exempt), retail stores and recreational/cultural facilities.⁸
• Smoking restrictions are required in  private workplaces.⁸
• E-cigarettes are included in the state’s clean indoor air law.⁹

Licensing laws

• Retailers are required to obtain a license to sell cigarettes, but are not required to obtain a license to sell other tobacco products. Wholesalers are required to obtain a license to sell tobacco products.⁷
• A license is required to sell e-cigarette products.⁹

Youth access laws

• Effective December 2019, the United States adopted a law raising the federal minimum age of sale of all tobacco products to 21.  Some states have not yet raised their state minimum age of sale, however, the federal law takes precedence.
• Establishments are required to post signs stating that sales to underage consumers are prohibited.⁷
• The sale or delivery of e-cigarettes or vapor products to underage persons is prohibited.⁹
• Self-service displays for e-cigarettes or vapor products are prohibited except in adult-only facilities.⁹
• Delivery sales are required to be made only to age-verified consumers and must include a shipping label on all containers that states: “CONTAINS AN ELECTRONIC NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEM OR VAPOR PRODUCT – SIGNATURE OF PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY.”

• The CDC estimates 53.4% of daily adult smokers in Connecticut quit smoking for one or more days in 2019.³
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.⁸**
• Connecticut’s state quit line invests 96 cents per smoker, compared with the national average of $2.28.⁸
• Connecticut does not have a private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.⁸

Updated August 2021

*National and state-level prevalence numbers reflect the most recent data available. This may differ across state fact sheets.

**The seven recommended quitting medications are NRT gum, NRT patch, NRT nasal spray, NRT inhaler, NRT lozenge, Varenicline (Chantix) and Bupropion (Zyban).

Fiore MC, et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service: May 2008.

1. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2020.

2. CDC, Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System, 2019.

3. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System, 2021.

4. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Broken Promises to Our Children: a State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 22 Years Later FY2021, 2020.

5. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in the United States.

6. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates & Rankings. https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/factsheets/0097.pdf. Accessed.

7. American Lung Association, State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI).

8. American Lung Association, State of Tobacco Control, 2021.

9. Public Health Law Center. U.S. E-Cigarette Regulation: 50-State Review. http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/resources/us-e-cigarette-regulations-50-state-review. Accessed.