Arizona’s Community Tobacco-Free Alliance (AZCTA)

The American Lung Association invites community-based organizations, local leaders, and community advocates to join the Arizona’s Community Tobacco-Free Alliance (AZCTA), a new, statewide collaboration uniting partners who want to protect families, youth, and communities from the harms of commercial tobacco and nicotine use.

Together, we’ll share the truth about how tobacco and nicotine products harm health, how industry marketing fuels addiction, and how evidence-based solutions can build stronger, healthier communities.

How Our Communities Are Being Targeted

The tobacco industry continues to change its products and marketing, often focusing on the people and communities most at risk. Their strategies are sophisticated and designed to build lifelong addiction. Here is how these tactics show up in Arizona today.

• Youth: Young people continue to be a top target for tobacco and nicotine companies. In Arizona, only 3.4% of high school students smoke cigarettes, but 17.2% report using e-cigarettes or other vaping products at least once in the past 30 days (2021 data)^1,2. Even though teen cigarette use is lower than ever, companies are finding new ways to reach them through colorful vapes, candy flavors, and social media trends like the hashtag #ZYN, which reached more than 700 million views on TikTok in early 2024⁷. These marketing tactics make nicotine seem normal and harmless, creating pathways to addiction before adulthood. 
• Black Communities: For decades, tobacco companies have aggressively marketed menthol cigarettes to Black and African American communities through event sponsorships, culturally specific ads, and targeted promotions in local stores. Nationally, menthol cigarettes were responsible for about 1.5 million new smokers, 157,000 premature deaths, and 1.5 million life years lost among African Americans between 1980 and 2018^3,4. Community leaders across Arizona continue to raise awareness about the dangers of menthol and are working to end this cycle of targeted marketing and disease³.
• Native American and Tribal Communities: Arizona’s Native communities face unique challenges related to commercial tobacco and nicotine use and understanding these differences is essential for equitable outreach and prevention. In 2019, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults in Arizona had the highest rates of cigarette smoking (22.6%) and smokeless tobacco use (10.9%) among all racial and ethnic groups⁵. AI/AN adults also experience higher poverty and unemployment, lower educational attainment, and less access to a personal doctor, which increases vulnerability to addiction and tobacco-related illness⁵. Although ceremonial or traditional tobacco is sacred in many tribal cultures, commercial tobacco products have contributed to higher disease and mortality rates in AI/AN populations⁶.
• LGBTQ+ Communities: For decades, LGBTQ+ people have long faced targeted advertising, including promotions at bars and Pride events. These campaigns have contributed to significantly higher smoking rates among LGBTQ+ adults nationwide⁴. In Arizona, LGBQ+ teens are three times more likely to smoke cigarettes than heterosexual teens⁸. This difference reflects how marketing and social stress combine to drive higher rates of nicotine use in LGBTQ+ communities.

Why This Matters

These patterns are not random. They are part of a long history of marketing that exploits stress, identity, and community pride to sell addictive products. Every ad placement, flavor, and influencer campaign is designed to attract new users and sustain addiction.

By learning how our communities are being targeted, we can take action together to protect youth, promote health equity, and build a tobacco-free future for Arizona.

Commercial tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, and its impact continues to affect Arizona residents, especially those already facing health inequities.

• 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and 80 percent of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema and chronic bronchitis  are caused by smoking⁹.
• Among those who currently smoke, 73 percent of diagnosed smoking-related conditions are chronic lung diseases such as COPD⁹.
• Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, at least 69 known to cause cancer⁹.