TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION 101: ALABAMA

Key Points:

• In 2023, 564,823 Alabama adults (14.2 percent) were currently smoking. This is a 9 percent decrease from 2022 and represents 50,652 fewer adults smoking.

• Among all smoking adults in Alabama in 2023, 4.5 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 33.1 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 45.4 percent were 45 to 64 years old, and 16.9 percent were 65 years or older.

• Among all adults earning $25,000 or less in 2023, 27.8 percent were currently smoking compared to 10.8 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more.

• Among all smoking adults in Alabama in 2023, 69.9 percent were White, 23 percent were Black, 3.9 percent were Hispanic, and 3.3 percent were Multiracial.

• In 2023, 377,875 Alabama adults (9.5 percent) were currently using e-cigarettes. This is an 8.7 percent decrease from 2022 and represents 32,442 fewer adults vaping.

• Among all vaping adults in Alabama in 2023, 31.6 percent were 18 to 24 years old, 43.3 percent were 25 to 44 years old, 21.3 percent were 45 to 64 years old, and 3.8 percent were 65 years or older.

• In 2023, for every one U.S. high school student who was smoking, more than 135 adults were currently using cigarettes.

• In 2023, for every one U.S. high school student who was vaping, more than 16 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 2007 and 2023, smoking rates among Alabama adults aged 18 to 24 years old decreased by 82.8 percent.

• E-cigarette use has decreased among Alabama young adults. Between 2022 and 2023, e-cigarette use among 18- to 24-year-olds decreased by 15.6 percent.

• Cigarette excise taxes in Alabama disproportionately impact low income and low education persons, while failing to significantly reduce smoking rates among that class.

• Among Alabama adults earning $25,000 or less, smoking rates decreased on average by 0.04 percent annually between 2003 and 2023, while rates among adults earning $50,000 or more decreased by 1.6 percent during the same period.

• In 2023, low-income adults were 2.6 times more likely to smoke than high income earners.

• In 2023, among Alabama adults who did not graduate high school, 26.2 percent were currently smoking, while only 6.3 percent of college graduates were smoking.

• In 2023, adults lacking a high school diploma were 4.2 times more likely to smoke than college graduates.

• Alabama 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 2023, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent less than $0.01 on tobacco control efforts.