POLICY TIP SHEET: TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION 101: IOWA

January 15, 2020

Key Points: 

• Iowa’s vaping industry provided more than $191 million in economic activity in 2018 while generating 820 direct vaping-related jobs. Sales of disposables and prefilled cartridges in Iowa exceeded $4.2 million in 2016.

• As of January 7, 2020, IDPH has reported 56 confirmed and probable cases of vaping-related lung illnesses, with 77 percent of patients reporting use of THC-containing vapor products. IDPH earns a B for its reporting on vaping-related lung illnesses.

• In 2017, only 0.9 percent of Iowa high school students reported daily e-cigarette use. More data is needed.   

• Only 3 percent of FDA retail compliance checks in Iowa resulted in sales of e-cigarettes to minors from January 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.

• Iowa spends very little on tobacco prevention. In 2019, Iowa dedicated only $4 million on tobacco control, or 1 percent of what the state received in tobacco settlement payments and taxes.