Tobacco & Vaping 101: Rhode Island

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

Key Points: 

• In 2022, 104,999 Rhode Island adults (11.8 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 4.8 percent decrease from 2021 and represents 4,962 fewer adults smoking.
• In 2022 (among all Rhode Island adults), 4.3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 14 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 15.3 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.4 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2022, 19.4 percent were currently smoking compared to only 7.4 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in Rhode Island in 2022, 72.2 percent were White, 16.6 percent were Hispanic, 7.5 percent were Multiracial (non-Hispanic), 3.3 percent were Asian, and less than one percent were Black.
• In 2022, 59,618 Rhode Island adults (6.7 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is a 8.1 percent increase from 2021 and represents 4,638 additional adults vaping.
• Among all vaping adults in Rhode Island in 2022, 33.1 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 47.1 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 15.8 percent were 45 to 64 years old and 3.9 percent were 65 years or older.
• In 2021, for every one Rhode Island high school student who was smoking, more than 81 adults were currently using cigarettes.
• In 2021, for every one Rhode Island high school student who was vaping, more than six 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 Rhode Island adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 67.2 percent.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Rhode Island disproportionately impact low income, low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The percentage of Rhode Island adults earning $25,000 or less that were smoking decreased by 22.7 percent between 2018 and 2022, while the percent of adults earning $50,000 or more that were smoking decreased by 27.1 percent during the same period.
• Among Rhode Island adults who did not graduate high school, smoking rates decreased by 25.1 percent, yet rates among adults with a college degree decreased by 16.4 percent.
• Rhode Island 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 less than $0.01 on tobacco control efforts.