New Hampshire Highlights

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Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States and in New Hampshire. To address this enormous toll, the American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by New Hampshire’s elected officials:

  1. Provide increased funding for the New Hampshire tobacco control and prevention program;
  2. Defend against rollbacks to and close loopholes in smokefree laws; and
  3. Increase the cigarette excise tax and establish e-cigarette tax parity.
Despite the New Hampshire Tobacco Prevention program being woefully underfunded at only approximately 10% of the level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when federal funding from CDC is included, the level of state funding remained flat in 2024. Significantly increasing funding for New Hampshire’s tobacco prevention and treatment efforts remains the top priority for the 2025 session.

Unfortunately, during the 2024 session, the New Hampshire General Court enacted legislation, which Governor Sununu signed into law, that will expand “hookah bars” across the Granite state. With the new law, existing cigar bars can now offer hookah, and new and existing hookah bars will not have to meet a minimum cigar sales threshold.

The American Lung Association in New Hampshire will continue to work with our coalition partners including the Tobacco Free New Hampshire Network, New Hampshire Public Health Association, the American Heart Association, Breathe New Hampshire, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and others to advance tobacco control and prevention efforts. As the legislature begins its work in 2025, we will continue to educate policymakers, Granite State residents and business leaders and the media of the importance of the Lung Associations goals to reduce tobacco use and protect public health.

New Hampshire Facts
Healthcare Costs Due to Smoking: $728,895,693
Adult Smoking Rate: 10.40%
Adult Tobacco Use Rate: 16.80%
High School Smoking Rate: 5.50%
High School Tobacco Use Rate: N/A
Middle School Smoking Rate: N/A
Smoking Attributable Deaths per Year: 1,940
Adult smoking and tobacco use data come from CDC’s 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; adult tobacco use includes cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes. High school smoking rate is taken from CDCs 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. A current high school tobacco use rate and middle school smoking rate are not available for this state.

Health impact information is taken from the Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) software. Smoking-attributable deaths reflect average annual estimates for the period 2005-2009 and are calculated for persons aged 35 years and older. Smoking-attributable healthcare expenditures are based on 2004 smoking-attributable fractions and 2009 personal healthcare expenditure data. Deaths and expenditures should not be compared by state.

New Hampshire Information

Learn more about your state specific legislation regarding efforts towards effective Tobacco Control.

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