Tobacco* is the leading cause of preventable death in the state and costs Wisconsinites an average of $3 billion in direct health care costs.
(Source: UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Population Health)
7,850 Wisconsinites die each year from smoking-related causes.
Smoking caused $5.6 billion in productivity losses in Wisconsin.
(Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in WI)
People with mental health conditions or substance use disorders can have higher rates of death from tobacco-related diseases like cancer, lung disease, and cardiovascular disease. (Source: American Lung Association Behavioral Health & Tobacco Use)
Wisconsin spends less than 10% of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends.
- FY2024 Wisconsin state funding for the Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Treatment Program: $5,325,000 (Source: Wisconsin Commercial Tobacco Prevention & Treatment Program)
- Estimated marketing expenditures by Big Tobacco spent in Wisconsin each year: $161.2 million (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in WI)
- CDC Best Practice State Spending Recommendation: $57,500,000 (Source: American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control-WI, Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding)
- Percentage of CDC Recommended Level: 9.2% (Source: American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control-WI, Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding)
The Wisconsin Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Treatment Program works with state partners and local communities.
CTPTP partners with 19 regional tobacco coalitions to support community-specific initiatives. Funded partners work with youth, schools, faith communities, tobacco and vape retailers, law enforcement, and municipalities.
Supporting local school districts in addressing the vaping epidemic is a priority. CTPTP provides prevention, intervention, and cessation programs and alternatives to suspension that help young people quit.
CTPTP and partners support outreach to healthcare professionals and the general public. This work saves $1,986 per year in Medicaid/BadgerCare Plus expenses per member who quits smoking. (Source: UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, calculation by health economist)
The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line expanded its vaping cessation support for teens and young adults; those ages 18-26 now have a text-based service that also offers nicotine replacement therapy. (UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention)
First Breath helps people make positive changes to their tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use during pregnancy and beyond. In 2023, First Breath reached 25.5% of all pregnant tobacco users in Wisconsin. (Source: Wisconsin First Breath 2023 Annual Report)
E-cigarette use among youth and young adults is a public health crisis.
The most common reason youth give for continuing to use e-cigarettes is “I am feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed.”
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Why Youth Vape)
Vaping can harm young people’s mental health and brain development. Nicotine can exacerbate anxiety and depression as users become addicted. It also can harm young people’s developing brains, including focus, impulse control, learning, sleep, and mood. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, E-Cigarette Use Among Youth)
In 2021, 1 in 7 high schoolers (14.6%) used e-cigarettes, a rate comparable to conventional cigarette use among Wisconsin teens in 2011. This is almost over a decade of lost progress. (Source: WI 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, pgs 21-22)
Wisconsin’s underage tobacco sales rate is more than double the pre-pandemic rate — up to 13.6% in 2023 from 5.5% in 2019. (Sources: WI 2024 Annual Synar Report - page 37, WI 2020 Annual Synar Report - page 37)
Wisconsin remains one of only eight states without a state Tobacco 21 law (Source: STATE System Tobacco MLSA Fact Sheet | CDC). Local police cannot assist with enforcement without a state law.
The Wisconsin tax on e-cigarettes is a fraction of the tax on a pack of cigarettes, despite these products containing nicotine. (Sources: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control-WI, Tobacco Taxes-tax on e-cigarettes)
The indoor smoke-free air law does not currently include all forms of smoking such as e-cigarettes and cannabis
(Source: WI State Statute 101.123)
77.5% of Wisconsinites support Wisconsin’s smoke-free air law, 18.3% neither support nor oppose, and only 4.2% oppose the clean indoor air law. (Source: 2023 UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Population Health- WI Tobacco Facts: Adults, pg. F6)
Preserving and strengthening Wisconsin’s smoke-free air laws are the best ways to protect people from involuntary secondhand smoke and aerosol exposure. (Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Environmental Protection Agency-What Can I Do to Reduce Exposure to Secondhand E-Cigarette Aerosol?)
The tobacco industry uses menthol, candy, and fruity flavors to appeal to Wisconsinites from all walks of life and get them addicted to nicotine.
(Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids)
Almost 9 out of 10 current middle & high school students who have used e-cigarettes (89.4%) used flavored e-cigarettes, with fruit flavors being the most popular, followed by sweets, mint, and menthol. (Sources: CDC, MMWR Tobacco Product Use Among US Middle and High School Students-National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2023)
Over half of Hispanic adults over 18 who smoke, smoke menthol cigarettes. (Source: Centers for Disease and Prevention, Menthol Smoking and Related Health Disparities) Menthol, a mint flavoring, makes cigarettes easier to start and harder to quit because of its soothing and cooling effect; it is the only conventional cigarette flavor still allowed on the market. (Source: American Lung Association What is Menthol?)
In Wisconsin, nearly 85% of Black adult smokers use menthols. (Source: 2023 UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Population Health-WI Tobacco Facts: Menthol Use Among Wisconsin Adults, pg 5) Each year 45,000 Black Americans in the U.S. die from smoking and die at higher rates from tobacco-related diseases like cancer, heart disease and stroke. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids)
LGBTQ people who smoke are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes than heterosexual people who smoke. (Source: Centers for Disease and Prevention, Menthol Smoking and Related Health Disparities) Tobacco companies use phrases like “Take pride in your flavor” and rainbow imagery to market menthol and flavored products to LGBTQ+ people. (Source: Centers for Disease and Prevention, Unfair and Unjust Practices Harm LGBTQ+ People and Drive Health Disparities)
If menthol cigarettes were no longer available, an estimated 17,200 additional adults in Wisconsin who smoke would quit smoking. (Source: CDC, Menthol Facts-Wisconsin)
*This document focuses on commercial tobacco — mass-produced products sold for profit that contain chemical additives. Native Americans have used traditional tobacco in sacred ways for centuries. By focusing tobacco prevention and treatment on commercial tobacco, we acknowledge and respect sovereign tribal nations’ relationship with sacred tobacco.