In Montana 17% of all adults smoke cigarettes and 12% use smokeless tobacco (“chew”), for an estimated total of 175,053 tobacco users. (Source: Montana Adult Tobacco Survey, 2006)

• Cigarette smoking is the main risk factor for heart disease and many cancers, including lung cancer, bladder cancer, and oral cancer, which account for more than one quarter of all cancers in the state. Cigarette smoking is also a major risk factor for emphysema and stroke, the third and fifth leading causes of death among Montana residents. (Source: Montana Central Tumor Registry, 2007; Montana Office of Vital Statistics, 2006).

• Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids estimates that more Montanans die each year from smoking than from car accidents, alcohol, drugs, AIDS, suicide, and murders combined. Tobacco use is also the single most preventable cause of death and disease in our society. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, www.tobaccofreekids.org)

• On an average day, nearly four Montanans die prematurely from  smoking related diseases. That’s more than 1,400 annually. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids,www.tobaccofreekids.org)

• Tobacco-related health care costs in Montana total over $200 million per year. (Source: CDC, Data Highlights 2006 and underlying CDC data/estimates )

• The prevalence of cigarette smoking among American Indian adults in Montana is about twice that of Montanans overall.  (Source: Montana Adult Tobacco Survey, 2006) 

• 39% of American Indian Adults are current smokers. (Source: Survey of Commercial Tobacco Use Among Native Americans in MT, 2006)

• The tobacco industry has targeted American Indians by funding cultural events like pow-wows and rodeos and using Indian cultural symbols and designs in advertisements

• In 2006, 17% of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 smoked cigarettes, down from 27% in 2000 (Source: Trends in Youth Tobacco Use and Attitudes, 2000-2006, MTUPP 2007).

• Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids estimates that Montana kids buy or smoke about 3.9 million packs of cigarettes each year. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, www.tobaccofreekids.org)

• Nationally, more than a third of all kids who ever try smoking a cigarette become regularly daily smokers before leaving high school. Most who become regular smokers continue to smoke throughout adulthood. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, www.tobaccofreekids.org)

Almost 90% of adult smokers began at or before age 18. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, www.tobaccofreekids.org)

• 22% of 12th grade boys in Montana use chew or spit tobacco.  (Source: Trends in Youth Tobacco Use and Attitudes, 2000-2006, MTUPP 2007)

• Spit tobacco users are up to 50 times more likely to get oral cancer than non-users. (Source: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, www.tobaccofreekids.org)

• Chew can be more addictive than cigarettes because it contains more nicotine. One can of chew delivers as much nicotine as 60 cigarettes. (Source: Academy of General Dentistry)

• Among high school seniors who have ever used spit tobacco, almost three-fourths began by the ninth grade. (Source: Academy of General Dentistry)

• Overall, 49% of adult cigarette smokers tried to quit smoking in 2006. (Source: Montana Adult Tobacco Survey, 2006)

• Montana youth also try to stop smoking cigarettes. In 2005, three of five (61%) of high school students who smoked cigarettes reported they tried to quit in the past 12 months.(Source: Montana Office of Public Instruction, Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2005)