Tobacco use in Indiana 2021

• In 2020, 19.4% of adults smoked. Nationally, the rate was 15.5%.¹
• In 2018, 5.2% of high school students in Indiana smoked cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days.²

• In 2018, 6.7% of adults in Indiana used e-cigarettes. ³
• In 2020, 4.6% of adults in Indiana used smokeless tobacco.³
• In 2018, 18.5% of high school students in Indiana used e-cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days.²
• In 2018, 3.8% of high school students in Indiana used chewing tobacco, snuff or dip on at least one day in the past 30 days.²
• In 2018, 6.7% of high school students in Indiana smoked cigars, cigarillos or little cigars on at least one day in the past 30 days.²

• Indiana received $548.6 million (estimated) in revenue from tobacco settlement payments and taxes in fiscal year 2021.⁴
• Of this, the state allocated $7.5 million in state funds to tobacco prevention in fiscal year 2020, 10.2% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.⁴
• Smoking-related health care costs: $2.93 billion per year⁴
• Smoking-related losses in productivity: $3.17 billion per year⁵

Tobacco taxes

• Indiana is ranked 39th in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of 99.5 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes (enacted July 2007), compared with the national average of $1.91. (The District of Columbia has the highest tax at $4.50 and Missouri has the lowest at 17 cents.) ^6-8
• Moist snuff is taxed at 40 cents per ounce. All other tobacco products are taxed at 24% of the wholesale price.^6,7

Clean indoor air ordinances

• Smoking is prohibited in all government workplaces, private workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, restaurants, retail stores (retail tobacco and cigar specialty stores exempt) and recreational/cultural facilities.^6,7
• Smoking restrictions are required in bars.^6,7
• There are no smoking restrictions in casinos/gaming establishments.^6,7
• There are no smoke-free restrictions for e-cigarette use.⁹

Licensing laws

• Retailers and wholesalers are required to obtain a license to sell tobacco products.⁶
• A license is required to sell e-cigarette products.⁹

Youth access laws

• Effective December 2019, the United States adopted a law raising the federal minimum age of sale of all tobacco products to 21.  Some states have not yet raised their state minimum age of sale, however, the federal law takes precedence.
• Establishments are required to post signs stating that sales to underage consumers are prohibited.^6,7
• Underage persons are prohibited from buying and possessing electronic smoking devices, including e-cigarettes and e-liquids.^6,7,9
• Self-service displays and vending machine sales of e-cigarettes are restricted to tobacco/vape shops and places inaccessible to underage persons. ⁹
• The self-service sale of e-liquids is prohibited. ⁹
• Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are prohibited from marketing e-liquid as a modified risk product. ⁹
• The manufacture (including mixing, bottling, and packaging) and sale of e-liquids are restricted to persons with proper permits. ⁹
• Retailers are prohibited from selling e-liquids with more than 75 mg/ml of nicotine.
• “[Retailers] who ship e-liquids from a delivery sale order shall include as part of the shipping documents a document with the following statement: ‘E-LIQUIDS: Indiana law prohibits the sale of this product to a person who is less than 21 years of age.’” ⁹
• Delivery sales of e-liquids must be prepaid by purchaser, shipped only to purchaser, and only after good faith effort to ascertain age. ⁹
• The sale of e-liquid or electronic cigarettes containing vitamin E acetate is prohibited.⁹
• A specialty e-cigarette/e-liquid store cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school (applies to new businesses as of July 1, 2020).⁹
   

• The CDC estimates 44.8% of adult every day smokers in Indiana quit smoking for one or more days in 2019.³
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.⁷**
• Indiana’s state quit line invests $2.13 per smoker, compared with the national average of $2.28.⁷
• Indiana does not have a private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.⁷

Updated August 2021

*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, 2020.

2. Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey, 2018.

3. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System, 2021.

4. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Broken Promises to Our Children: a State-by-State Look at the 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 22 Years Later FY2021, 2020.

5. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Toll of Tobacco in the United States.

6. American Lung Association, State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI).

7. American Lung Association, State of Tobacco Control, 2021.

8. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates & Rankings. https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/factsheets/0097.pdf. Accessed.

9. Public Health Law Center. U.S. E-Cigarette Regulation: 50-State Review. http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/resources/us-e-cigarette-regulations-50-state-review. Accessed.