Fighting Tobacco in New York

Tobacco companies are still making a killing off New Yorkers.  While we have made substantial progress, the fact remains that smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in New York.  In 2022, about 49 million adults (20%) used a commercial tobacco product. Current smoking and use of other combustible tobacco products is especially high among persons with lower socioeconomic status, those who live in rural areas, bisexual persons, those with a disability, and those who report serious psychological distress.

An estimated 618,120 people in the United States will die from cancer in 2025 with smoking accounting for almost 500 cancer deaths each day in 2025, mostly from lung cancer. Smoking not only causes cancer. It can damage nearly every organ in the body, including the lungs, heart, blood vessels, reproductive organs, mouth, skin, eyes, and bones. We can change these grim statistics. 

Smoking accounts for about 85% of lung cancer deaths in 2025 (124,730), with an additional 3500 caused by secondhand smoke and 15,100 caused by a combination of other combustible tobacco products (e.g., cigar or pipe smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women and is one of the hardest cancers to treat.

Smoking and tobacco take a toll on New Yorkers…

• Over 28,000 New Yorkers a year die from tobacco-caused illnesses.
• Over 10.600 New York kids become new smokers each year.  
• The annual health care costs in New York directly caused by smoking are $10.39 billion
• The use of e-cigarettes by kids is rising rapidly. E-cigarette use among kids tripled in just one year
• Kids aren’t substituting e-cigarettes for cigarettes.  In fact, more than half of high school students who smoke cigarettes also use e-cigarettes.
• E-cigarette use among high school students (10.5%) is nearly twice that of adults over the age of 25. (5.7%).

New York State Advocacy Initiatives:
While New York has made tremendous strides in reducing smoking rates, in recent years, the state has begun to lose its national leadership role in tobacco control. 

• The New York State Tobacco Control Program:  The state’s Tobacco Control Program helps New Yorkers quit smoking and keeps kids from beginning this deadly addiction. Yet despite our successes, the program is woefully underfunded – meaning many communities across the state are still seeing an overwhelming level of death and disease from smoking.  The populations that need our help the most, including those with lower education and income, and individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues have significantly higher smoking rates – and some even double the statewide smoking rate.  New York needs to step-up efforts to reach smokers rather than reduce its efforts.
• Establish Tax on All Tobacco Products: ACS CAN supports establishing a tax on all non-cigarette tobacco products that are currently untaxed. The tax should be equivalent to the current tax on cigarettes. 

New York City Advocacy Initiatives
While New York City has made tremendous strides in reducing smoking rates, in recent years, the state has begun to lose its national leadership role in tobacco control. 

• Ending the sale of menthol cigarettes: We will advocate for ending the sale of menthol cigarettes in New York City. 

Revised February 2025