Tobacco & Vaping 101: Arizona

Lawmakers are often bombarded with misinformation on the products used by adults in their state. This annual analysis provides up-to-date data on the adults who use cigarettes and e-cigarette products in the Grand Canyon State. This information aslo includes data on youth use, impacts of e-cigarettes and analyses of existing tobacco monies.

Key Points: 

• In 2022, an estimated 732,814 adults (12.7 percent) were currently smoking. This a 3.1 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 8,951 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Arizona adults), 6.5 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 15.9 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 14.6 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 9.2 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 24.5 percent were currently smoking compared to only 9.1 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Arizona in 2022, 58.3 percent were White, 26.7 percent were Hispanic, 5.9 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 4.5 percent were Black, 3.1 percent were American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 1.5 percent were Asian.
• In 2022, 519,317 Arizona adults (nine percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 2.3 percent increase from 2021 and represents 21,032 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Arizona in 2022, 26 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 52.9 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 18.4 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 2.8 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Arizona high school student who was smoking, more than 59 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Arizona high school student who was vaping, more than eight adults were currently using e-cigarettes.
• The introduction of e-cigarettes has not led to increases in cigarette smoking, but rather, correlates with significant declines in smoking rates among young adults.
• Between 2018 and 2022, smoking rates among Arizona adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 24.4 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Arizona disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Arizona adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking increased by 7.7 percent between 2006 and 2022, while the percentage of adults earning $50,000 or more who were smoking decreased by 56.8 percent during the same period.
• Among Arizona adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates increased by 16.7 percent, yet rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 41.1 percent.
• Arizona woefully underfunds programs to prevent youth use of tobacco and/or vapor products and help adults quit smoking, while simultaneously receiving millions of dollars from the pockets of the adults who smoke. In 2022, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent only $0.05 on tobacco control efforts.