Tobacco & Vaping 101: New Mexico

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 Land of Enchantment. This information aslo includes data on youth use, impacts of e-cigarettes and analyses of existing tobacco monies.

Key Points: 

• In 2022, an estimated 248,075 adults (15 percent) were currently smoking. This is an 11.9 percent increase from 2021 and represents 27,959 additional adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all New Mexico adults), 11 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 17.9 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 16.8 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 10.8 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 22.3 percent were currently smoking compared to only nine percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in New Mexico in 2022, 48.4 percent were Hispanic, 37.6 percent were White, 8.2 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native, 3.2 percent were Black, and 2.5 percent Multiracial (non-Hispanic).
• In 2022, 120,730 New Mexico adults (6.1 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This a 0 percent change from 2021, but due to population increases, there were 816 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in New Mexico in 2022, 34 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 40 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 20.4 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 5.7 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one New Mexico high school student who was smoking, more than 58 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one New Mexico high school student who was vaping, more than four 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.
• Unfortunately, due to prohibitions on vaping devices, smoking rates among 18- to 24-year-olds has increased by 8.3 percent between 2018 and 2022.
• Cigarette excise taxes in New Mexico disproportionately impact low income and low educated persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of New Mexico adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking increased by five percent between 2019 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 16.7 percent during the same period.
• Among New Mexico adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates remained unchanged.
• New Mexico 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 $0.03 on tobacco control efforts.