South Carolina Highlights

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

  1. Pass comprehensive local smokefree ordinances that protect all workers and patrons from secondhand smoke;
  2. Strengthen tobacco retail licensing laws, including electronic cigarette retailers; and
  3. Increase the cigarette tax by a $1.00 per pack or more and equalize taxes for all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.
During the 2024 legislative session the American Lung Association and partners were successful in getting $1 million appropriated to Smokefree SC, a statewide organization dedicated to amplifying the work of tobacco prevention and control stakeholders throughout South Carolina. This was in addition to the $5 million in state funding dedicated to the state tobacco prevention and cessation program from state cigarette tax revenue.

Big tobacco companies attempted to establish an e-cigarette registry based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration pre-market tobacco application status in Senate Bill 994, but it did not pass. Big tobacco companies introduced similar legislation in most states that had a state legislative session in 2024. The American Lung Association and partners continue to educate policymakers on evidence-based tobacco prevention and control policies.

In 2025, the Lung Association will continue to educate state legislators about the health and economic benefits of strong tobacco control policies, including the state policy goals highlighted above.

South Carolina Facts
Healthcare Costs Due to Smoking: $1,906,984,487
Adult Smoking Rate: 12.10%
Adult Tobacco Use Rate: 19.80%
High School Smoking Rate: 3.30%
High School Tobacco Use Rate: N/A
Middle School Smoking Rate: N/A
Smoking Attributable Deaths per Year: 7,230
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 data come from the 2021 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.

South Carolina Information

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

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