Tobacco use in Oregon 2018

Cigarette use: Oregon*

• In 2016, 16.2 percent of adults smoked. Nationally, the rate was 17.1 percent.¹
• In 2015, 8.8 percent of high school students smoked on at least one day in the past 30 days. Nationally, the rate was 10.8 percent.²

Other tobacco product use: Oregon

• In 2015, 3.6 percent of adults used e-cigarettes, 2.1 percent used smokeless tobacco and 2.9 percent smoked cigars.³
• In 2017, 12.9 percent of 11th graders used e-cigarettes, 3.4 percent used smokeless tobacco, 5.6 percent smoked little cigars and 2.0 percent smoked large cigars on at least one day in the past 30 days.⁴

Economics of tobacco use and tobacco control

• Oregon received $353.1 million (estimated) in tobacco settlement payments and taxes in fiscal year 2018.⁵
• Of this, the state allocated $8.2 million in state funds to tobacco prevention in fiscal year 2018, just 20.7 percent of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.⁵
• Smoking-caused health care costs: $1.54  billion per year⁵
• Smoking-caused losses in productivity: $1.37 billion per year⁶

Oregon tobacco laws

Tobacco taxes

• Oregon is ranked 31st in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of $1.33 per pack (enacted January 2016), compared to 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.)⁷ ⁸ ⁹
• Cigars are taxed at 65 percent of the wholesale sales price of cigars (not to exceed 50 cents per cigar). Moist snuff is taxed at $1.78 per ounce, but the minimum tax per retail container is $2.14. All other tobacco products are taxed at 65 percent of the wholesale price.⁷ ⁸

Clean indoor air ordinances

• Smoking is prohibited in government workplaces, private workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, restaurants, bars (allowed in cigar bars), casinos/gaming establishments (tribal establishments exempt), retail stores (allowed in smoke shops) and recreational/cultural facilities.⁷ ⁸

Youth access laws

• The minimum age of sale for tobacco products in Oregon is 21.⁸
• Establishments are required to post signs stating that the sale of tobacco products to minors is prohibited.⁷
• Minors are prohibited from buying e-cigarettes.⁷

Quitting statistics and benefits

• The CDC estimates that 52.7 percent of daily adult smokers in Oregon quit smoking for one or more days in 2016.¹⁰
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.⁸**
• Oregon’s state quit line invests $2.25 per smoker, compared to the national average of $2.10.⁸
• Oregon has a private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.⁸

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 cessation 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 Behavioral Surveillance System, 2015.
3. CDC, State-Specific Prevalence of Tobacco Product Use Among Adults - United States, 2014-2015, MMWR.
4. Oregon Healthy Teens Survey, 2017.
5. 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.
6. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in the United States, 2018.
7. American Lung Association, SLATI State Reports, 2017.
8. American Lung Association, State of Tobacco Control, 2018.
9. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates & Rankings, 2018.
10. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System, 2016.