Tobacco & Vaping 101: Virginia

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

Key Points: 

• In 2021, 12.4 percent of adults were currently smoking in Virginia. This is an 8.8 percent decrease from 2020.
• In 2021 (among all Virginia adults), 3.5 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, 15.7 percent of 25–44-year-olds, 15.4 percent of 45–64-year-olds, and 8.1 percent of adults aged 65 years or older were currently smoking combustible cigarettes.
• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2021, 27.6 percent were currently smoking compared to only 7.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.
• Among all smoking adults in 2021 in Virginia, 66.7 percent were White, 24.7 percent were Black, 5.3 percent were Hispanic, and only 3.3 percent were Multiracial, non-Hispanic.
• Cigarette excise taxes in Virginia disproportionately impact low income, low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.
• The number of adults who smoke and earn $25,000 or less increased by eight percent between 2019 and 2021, while the percentage of adults who smoke earning $50,000 or more decreased by 20.7 percent during the same period.
• Among Virginians who did not graduate high school, smoking rates increased by 25.8 percent, yet among adults with a college degree, they decreased by 28.8 percent.
• In 2021, 6.8 percent of Virginia adults reported past-month e-cigarette use, which was a 38.8 percent increase from 2017.
• Youth tobacco and vapor product use continues to decline.
• Among high schoolers in Virginia in 2021, 2.8 percent reported using combustible cigarettes and cigars and 1.8 percent reported using smokeless tobacco. These are some of the lowest levels recorded.
• Current vapor product use among high school students has declined by 28.1 percent, from 19.9 percent in 2019 to 14.3 percent in 2021.
• 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 2007 and 2018, smoking rates among Virginia adults aged 18 to 24 years old declined by 56.1 percent. Since 2018, young adult smoking rates have decreased another 65.3 percent, with average annual declines of 25 percent.
• Virginia 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 2021, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent only $0.02 on tobacco control efforts.