Tobacco use in Maine 2018

Cigarette use: Maine*

• In 2016, 19.8 percent of adults smoked. Nationally, the rate was 17.1 percent.¹
• In 2017, 8.7 percent of high school students smoked on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 8.8 percent.²

Other tobacco product use: Maine

• In 2015,1.8 percent of adults used e-cigarettes and 2.6 percent smoked cigars.³
• In 2017, 15.8 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes, 5.0 percent used smokeless tobacco and 7.7 percent smoked cigars on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rates were 13.2 percent, 5.5 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively.²

Economics of tobacco use and tobacco control

• Maine received $196.8 million (estimated) in tobacco settlement payments and taxes in fiscal year 2018.⁴
• Of this, the state allocated $5.3 million in state funds to tobacco prevention in fiscal year 2018, 33 percent of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.⁴
• Smoking-related health care costs: $811 million per year⁴
• Smoking-related losses in productivity: $647 million per year⁵

Maine tobacco laws

Tobacco taxes

• Maine is ranked 15th in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of $2 per pack (enacted September 2005), compared with the national average of $1.73. (Connecticut and New York have the highest tax at $4.35 and Missouri has the lowest at 17 cents.)⁶ ⁷ ⁸
• Smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco and snuff, is taxed at a minimum of $2.02 per ounce. Cigars, pipe tobacco and other smoking tobacco are taxed at 20 percent of the wholesale price.⁶ ⁷

Clean indoor air ordinances

• Smoking is prohibited in all government and private workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, restaurants, bars, retail stores and recreational/cultural facilities.⁶ ⁷
• Smoking restrictions are required in casinos/gaming establishments (tribal establishments are exempt).⁶ ⁷

Youth access laws

• Beginning July 1, 2018, the minimum age of sale for tobacco products in Maine is 21.⁶ ⁷
• Establishments are required to post signs stating that sales to minors are prohibited.⁶ ⁷
• Minors are prohibited from buying electronic smoking devices, including e-cigarettes.⁶ ⁷

Flavor laws

• The sale of cigars with characterizing flavors is banned. Characterizing flavor is defined as having a distinguishable taste or aroma of candy, chocolate, vanilla, fruit, berry, nut, herb, spice, honey or an alcoholic drink. Menthol is exempted. Premium cigars, defined as cigars weighing more than three pounds per thousand cigars and wrapped in whole tobacco leaf, are exempt.⁹

Quitting statistics and benefits

• The CDC estimates 50.7 percent of daily adult smokers in Maine quit smoking for one or more days in 2016.¹⁰
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.⁷**
• Maine’s state quit line invests $10.99 per smoker, compared with the national average investment per smoker of $2.10.⁷
• Maine has no private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.⁷

Notes and references

Updated June 2018

*National and state-level prevalence numbers reflect the most recent data available. This may differ across state fact sheets.

**The seven recommended quitting medications are NRT gum, NRT patch, NRT nasal spray, NRT inhaler, NRT lozenge, Varenicline (Chantix) and Bupropion (Zyban). Fiore MC, et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service: May 2008.

1. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2016.
2. CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 2017.
3. CDC, State-Specific Prevalence of Tobacco Product Use Among Adults - United States, 2014-2015, MMWR.
4. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Broken Promises to Our Children: a State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 19 Years Later FY2018, 2017.
5. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in the United States, 2018.
6. American Lung Association, SLATI State Reports, 2017.
7. American Lung Association, State of Tobacco Control, 2018.
8. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates & Rankings, 2018.
9. Maine Revised Statutes. Title 22, Subtitle 2, Part 3, Chapter 262-A: Subchapter 5 - Flavored Cigars.  http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/22/title22sec1560-D.html.
10. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System, 2016.