Reports | 12.15.2020

Impact of Tobacco in Wyoming

2019 Annual Summary

By and

Context for Tobacco Prevention in Wyoming

There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Each year, an estimated 800 Wyoming adults die prematurely from smoking-attributable illnesses such as heart disease, lung diseases, and cancers (primarily of the respiratory system; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014a). In 2010, tobacco-related healthcare cost Wyoming nearly $240 million, including private and public costs—more than alcohol and other drugs (Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming [WYSAC], 2012).

The Wyoming Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) shares four goals with the national tobacco prevention and control program led by the CDC. The Impact of Tobacco in Wyoming: 2019 Annual Summary provides data on the prevalence of tobacco use and data associated with these four goals:

  • Reduce youth initiation (CDC, 2014c),
  • Reduce exposure to secondhand smoke (CDC, 2017),
  • Promote tobacco cessation (CDC, 2015b), and
  • Minimize disparities in the burden of tobacco use (CDC, 2014c; 2015b; 2017).

The TPCP and CDC goals tend to focus specifically on smoking cigarettes, though they are also applicable to other combustible tobacco products, smokeless tobacco, and vaping. Nationally and in Wyoming, cigarettes tend to be the focus of prevention work because of the high public health burden associated with them. Vaping tends to be another focus because of a recent surge in youth vaping and concerns that vaping will eventually show a substantial public health burden and may be linked with future cigarette smoking.

This Annual Summary also includes a discussion about the economic and health burdens of tobacco use in Wyoming. Details about the analyses and reporting in this annual summary are at the end of this document in the Methods Appendix. Although the estimates provided in this document are the best, most current, publicly available data, they are not without limitations. The Methods Appendix also includes a discussion of the limitations of the data sources based on technical details of the data collection and analyses. Differences noted as significant in this document are statistically significant.