• Kentucky has the second highest adult (24.5 percent) and youth (16.9 percent) smoking rates in the nation. 
   

• 2,900 youth start smoking every year in Kentucky.
   

• Kentucky is the cancer capital of the nation. Kentuckians die of cancer at rates higher than any other state, and 34 percent of deaths due to cancer in Kentucky are related to smoking.
   

• Nearly 9,000 Kentuckians die every year from smoking-related diseases; and if we do not reduce the rate of youth smoking, 119,000 Kentucky kids now younger than 18 will die prematurely.
   

• Smoking-related health care costs in the Commonwealth total $1.92 billion each year.

​

• The FDA says that teen e-cigarette use has reached epidemic levels, rising at very sharp levels in just the last year. Most smoking starts before age 18, and research shows that teens who use e-cigs are more likely to smoke cigarettes later on. We must prevent smoking before it starts, and that means we must reverse this disturbing growth in youth e-cigarette use.