Introduction

The Impact of Tobacco in Wyoming: 2015 Annual Summary provides data on the prevalence of tobacco use and data associated with the four goals of the Wyoming Tobacco Prevention and Control Program:

• Reduce youth initiation
• Reduce exposure to secondhand smoke
• Promote tobacco cessation
• Minimize disparities in the burden of tobacco use.

This Annual Summary also includes a discussion about the health and economic burdens of tobacco use in Wyoming. In reporting the data, the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WYSAC) uses the data sources’ conventions for ascertaining statistical significance and for reporting confidence intervals. Using those criteria (generally an alpha of .05 for statistical tests or 95% confidence intervals), WYSAC identifies as significant only differences or relationships that have been identified by the data sources as statistically significant or where confidence intervals do not overlap. The references list at the end includes information for materials cited in this document.

Prevalence of Tobacco Use

Adult Cigarette Smoking

Current smokers are those who reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke every day or some days. According to the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 21% of Wyoming adults smoke, slightly higher than the national median of 19%. Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, and Nebraska are in a statistical tie for the highest smoking rate in the region defined by Wyoming and the six bordering states (Figure 1). The smoking rate in Wyoming has declined since 2011, when the smoking rate was 23%.

Adult Use of Other Tobacco and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)

Compared to the national median, a greater proportion of Wyoming adults use chewing tobacco, snuff, or snus. In 2013, 9% of Wyoming adults reported using chewing tobacco, snuff, or snus every day or some days, compared to 4% of U.S. adults. A greater proportion of Wyoming men, 16%, than women, 1%, use smokeless tobacco (BRFSS, 2013).

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes, e-cigs, vape-pens) are battery powered devices that produce a vapor by heating a liquid instead of producing smoke from burning tobacco. Contents of the liquid vary across products, and some models allow for customized liquids. Many electronic cigarette liquids contain nicotine. In 2014, 20% of Wyoming adults had tried electronic cigarettes at least once. Of those who had tried them at least once, 36% used electronic cigarettes every day or some days. The majority (66%) of Wyoming adults who reported ever trying electronic cigarettes said they tried them out of curiosity. Other common reasons for trying electronic cigarettes included using them in places where tobacco is not allowed and to replace, cut down, or quit other tobacco products (WYSAC, 2014b). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any e-cigarette as a cessation aid. Using results from a web survey of adults in the United States, King, Patel, Nguyen, and Dube (2015) found that, in 2013, about 9% of U.S. adults had used electronic cigarettes at least once and nearly 3% reported use in the past 30 days. They also reported rapid growth in electronic cigarette use between 2010 and 2013.

In 2012, 48% of Wyoming adults and 34% of U.S. adults had tried cigars or cigarillos at least once. Of those who had tried cigars or cigarillos, 8% of Wyoming adults and 0.1% of U.S. adults had smoked them at least once in the past 30 days (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2014; WYSAC, 2014a).

Youth Cigarette Smoking

In Wyoming and in the United States, the cigarette smoking rate among high school students declined since 2001, based on smoking on one or more of the 30 days prior to being surveyed. In each year, the Wyoming and national smoking rates have been similar (Figure 2; Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System [YRBSS], 2013).

Youth Use of Other Tobacco and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)

In 2013, 14% of Wyoming high school students reported that they used smokeless tobacco on at least one of the last 30 days, much higher than the U.S. average of 9%. More Wyoming young men used smokeless tobacco (22%) than young women (6%; YRBSS, 2013).

Wyoming high school students reported using cigars, cigarillos, and little cigars (15% of students) similarly to the U.S. average (13% of students) based on smoking them on at least one of the 30 days prior to being surveyed (YRBSS, 2013).

Wyoming data for youth electronic cigarette use is not currently available. In the United States, in 2014, 9% of 8th graders, 16% of 10th graders, and 17% of 12th graders had used electronic cigarettes at least once in the 30 days prior to being surveyed (Monitoring the Future, 2014).