- 17.2% of Maine adults smoke, down from 18.2% in 2008, with higher rates among those with a high school degree or less. 18.1% of high school students smoke. - Smoking costs Maine $602 million annually in health care costs. Tobacco use results in 2,200 adult deaths and 27,000 premature youth deaths each year. - Maine spends $11.8 million on tobacco prevention annually, meeting 63.6% of the recommended CDC funding level of $18.5 million. This ranks Maine 6th nationwide for tobacco prevention spending.

1. Updated 11/02/10
Tobacco Related Data: Maine
Smoking Rates
17.2%1 of Maine adults smoke (down from 18.2% in 2008). This accounts for approximately 179,357 adults2.
o 18.0% are male (down from 21.6% in 2008).
o 15.8% are women (up from 15.0% in 2008).
41.4%3 of the Medicaid/MaineCare population smoke.
Smoking Rates from the 2007-2008 BRFSS:
o 18-24 year olds: 28.2%
o 25-44 year olds: 22.2%
o 45-64 year olds: 17.1%
o 65 and older: 7.5%
o More than a high school degree: 13.1%
o High school degree: 24.2%
o Less than a high school degree: 34.7%
o Native American: 36.6%
o Hispanic: 22.6%
o White: 18.9%
o Pacific Islander, Asian American and African American data under required sample size.
18.1%4 of Maine high school students report smoking in the past month. This accounts for approximately
12,670 Maine students.
o 8.6%5 of high school students—primarily male—use smokeless tobacco.
1
BRFSS, 2009.
2
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. Maine adult population as of July 2009 was 1,042,776.
3
BRFSS, 2008.
4
YRBS, 2009.
5
Ibid.
Developed by the Health Policy Partners of Maine [ako]

2. o 21.3%6 of Maine high school students report using some form of tobacco product (i.e. cigarettes,
smokeless or cigars) at least one time in the past month.
o 1,4007 kids under the age of 18 begin smoking each year.
o 2.2 million8 packs of cigarettes are sold to Maine’s underage youth each year.
How Maine Stacks Up: Comparisons among the 6 New England States (Rates) 9,10
High School
Smokeless Tobacco High School Smoking Pregnant Smoking
Use Rate Rate Adult Smoking Rate Rate
11
Connecticut 9.6% 17.8% 15.4% 7.0%
Maine 8.6% 18.1% 17.2% 17.1%
Massachusetts 7.9% 16.0% 14.9% 8.1%
New Hampshire 8.4% 20.8% 15.7% 14.0%
Rhode Island 6.1% 13.3% 15.0% 12.1%
Vermont 9.1% 17.6% 17.1% 20.1%
Death from Tobacco Use 12
2,200 adults die each year as a result of smoking. This is 6 people everyday.
27,000 children under the age of 18 will die prematurely as a result of their tobacco use.
220 adult nonsmokers die from exposure to secondhand smoke every year. This is 4 people each week.
Cost of Tobacco Use 13,14
Smoking costs Maine $602 million in health care expenditures each year.
o $216 million of this is covered by the Medicaid (MaineCare) program.
The tax burden associated with smoking related health care costs is estimated at $652 per Maine household.
Maine businesses suffer a loss of $534 million every year in lost productivity as a result of smoking.
Tobacco Prevention
The Federal Center for Disease Control recommends spending $18.5 million on tobacco prevention in Maine
each year.
o Maine spent $11.8 million on tobacco prevention in 2010. This was 63.6% of the recommended level.
o Maine currently ranks 6th in the country for tobacco prevention funding.
6
Ibid.
7
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Tobacco Use in Maine,” Factsheet. 2008.
8
Ibid.
9
YRBS, 2009.
10
BRFSS, 2009
11
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Tobacco Use in Connecticut,” Factsheet. 2008. YRBS 2009 data unavailable at time of publication.
12
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Tobacco Use in Maine,” Factsheet. 2008.
13
CDC. State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System. 2008.
14
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Tobacco Use in Maine,” Factsheet. 2008.

3. How Maine Stacks Up: Comparisons among the 6 New England States (Prevention)
Tobacco Prevention Spending % of
CDC Target (FY11)
Connecticut 3.2%
Maine 60.5%
Massachusetts 11.2%
New Hampshire 6.7%
Rhode Island 24.8%
Vermont 13.1%
Tobacco Taxes
The State of Maine is collected $137.8 million in cigarette excise taxes and $11.27 million in taxes on other
tobacco products (OTP) in FY 2010. 15
o A $1.50 cigarette tax increase would generate an additional $34.4 million in State revenue.16
Maine’s cigarette excise tax is $2.00.
o This is the 11th (of 50) highest in the country, and the 5th (of 6) highest in New England.
o Equal to 81% of manufacturer price.
Maine’s other tobacco products are taxed as listed:
o Smokeless tobacco (including dip, snuff and snus) are taxed at $2.02 an ounce, with a minimum tax of
$2.02 a container.
 A large bag of Red Man Chewing Tobacco would be taxed at $6.06 a bag.
 A tin of Copenhagen Long Cut moist snuff would be taxed at $2.42 a tin.
 A container of Camel Snus would be taxed at $2.02.
o Cigars are taxed at 20% of the wholesale price.
 Little cigars, cigarillos and blunts are all taxed at 20% of the wholesale price.
This is a quarter of the tax placed on cigarettes.
o Roll-your-own (loose) tobacco is taxed at 20% of wholesale price, as is pipe tobacco.
The Federal tax on a pack of cigarettes is $1.0066.
o Small cigars are taxed at $50.33 per 1,000, or $1.0066 per pack of 20.
o Large cigars are taxed at 52.75% of retail price, but cannot exceed $.4026 per individual cigar.
o Chewing tobacco is taxed at $.5033 per pound.
 For the average container of chew, this amounts to approximately .09437 cents per large bag of
Red Man Chewing Tobacco.
15
State of Maine Revenue Services, “Cigarette Tax Revenue in Millions of Dollars,” July 2010
16
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “Tobacco Taxes: A Win-Win-Win for Cash-Strapped States.” Maine Benefits from a $1 cigarette tax increase. 2010.

4. o Snuff and other moist dip are taxed at $1.51 per pound.
 Copenhagen Long Cut would is taxed at .1132 cents per tin.
o Roll-you-own (loose) tobacco is taxed at $24.78 per pound.
 Each “rollie” is taxed at .0557 cents, or $1.11 per 20.
 Cigarette papers are taxed at $.0315 per pack of 50.
 Cigarette tubes are taxed at $.0630 per 50.
 The federal tax on “pack” of 20 rollies is between $1.12 and $1.14, or 5 to 6 cents each.
o Pipe tobacco is taxed at $2.8311 per pound.
How Maine Stacks Up: Comparisons among the 6 New England States (Taxes)17
Non-Cigarette Smoking
Tobacco Cigars
Snuff Tax Chewing Tobacco (including roll-your-own and pipe) (including both small and large) Cigarettes (pack)
Connecticut $.55/oz. 27.5% wholesale price 27.5% wholesale price 27.5% wholesale price $3.00
Maine $2.02/oz. $2.02/oz. 20% wholesale price 20% wholesale price $2.00
Massachusetts 90% wholesale price 90% wholesale price 30% wholesale price 30% wholesale price $2.51
65.03% wholesale 65.03% wholesale price
New Hampshire 65.03% wholesale price price 65.03% wholesale price (nonpremium only) $1.78
80% wholesale price
Rhode Island $1.00/oz. 80% wholesale price 80% wholesale price ($.50 cap) $3.46
$1.66/oz or $1.99/oz if under 92% manufacturer
Vermont 1.2 oz. price 92% manufacturer price 92% manufacturer price $2.24
17
Rates as of May 13, 2010.

5. 18
19
18 Projections calculated by Nicole Witherbee, 2010.
19 YRBS, 2009. Tax rates reflect rates as of 10/1/2009.