Tobacco use in Kansas 2021

• In 2020, 16.6% of adults smoked. Nationally, the rate was 15.5%.¹
• In 2019, 5.8% of high school students in Kansas smoked cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 6.0%.²

• In 2017, 4.6% of adults in Kansas used e-cigarettes.³
• In 2020, 5.2% of adults in Kansas used smokeless tobacco.³
• In 2019, 22.0% of high school students in Kansas used electronic vapor products on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 32.7%.²
• In 2019, 4.5% of high school students in Kansas 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, 5.5% of high school students in Kansas smoked cigars, cigarillos or little cigars on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 5.7%.²

• Kansas received $185.1 million (estimated) in revenue from tobacco settlement payments and taxes in fiscal year 2021.⁴
• Of this, the state allocated $1.0 million in state funds to tobacco prevention in fiscal year 2020, 3.6% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.⁴
• Smoking-related health care costs: $1.12 billion per year⁴
• Smoking-related losses in productivity:$1.09 billion per year⁵

Tobacco taxes

• Kansas is ranked 34th in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of $1.29 per pack (enacted July 2015), 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.) ^6-8
• All other tobacco products are taxed at 10% of the wholesale price.^6,7

Clean indoor air ordinances

• Smoking is prohibited in all government workplaces, private workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, restaurants, bars, retail stores and recreational/cultural facilities.⁷
• Smoking restrictions are required in casinos/gaming establishments (casino floors and tribal establishments are exempt).⁷
• There are no smoke-free restrictions for e-cigarette use.⁹

Licensing laws

• Wholesalers are required to obtain a license to sell tobacco products. Retailers are required to obtain a license to sell cigarettes, but are not required to obtain a license to sell other tobacco products except e-cigarettes.⁶
• Retailers and vending machine distributors are required to obtain a license 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.
• While the federal law takes precedence, under the state law, the minimum sales age for Kansas is 18.
• Establishments are required to post signs stating that sales to underage consumers are prohibited.^6,7
• The sale or distribution of e-cigarettes to underage persons is prohibited.⁹
• Underage persons are prohibited from buying and possessing e-cigarettes.⁹
• Self-service displays of e-cigarettes are restricted to tobacco specialty stores and vending machines inaccessible to underage persons or which has a lock-out device.⁹
• The possession or distribution of e-cigarettes is prohibited at juvenile correctional facilities or institutions.⁹

• The CDC estimates 48.5% of daily adult smokers in Kansas quit smoking for one or more days in 2019.³
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.⁷**
• Kansas’s state quit line invests 36 cents per smoker, compared with the national of $2.28.⁷
• Kansas does not have a private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.⁷

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, 20120.

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

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

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

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.