Maine Highlights

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

The 2025 Maine legislative session was very successful for tobacco prevention policies. The highlight of the session was enactment of the first cigarette tax increase in the state in 20 years. During the budget process, Governor Mills proposed increasing the cigarette tax by $1.00 and in the final package, the cigarette tax was increased to $1.50 per pack beginning in January 2026. Since Maine passed equalization in 2019, the price of other tobacco products also was increased by an equivalent amount. This long overdue measure will yield significant health benefits prompting current tobacco users to make a quit attempt and discourage youth initiation of tobacco products.

Another significant legislative victory was realized through the passage of LD 166, which ended the sale of tobacco products in all Maine pharmacies. The Lung Association was a strong supporter of the measure introduced by Representative Matt Moonen and signed into law by Governor Mills in July. The measure goes into effect April 1, 2026.

2025 also saw the Maine Legislature pass, and the Governor sign a measure addressing several provisions in the state's tobacco-related statutes. The measure finally closes a lingering loophole in our smokefree law by prohibiting electronic cigarette use in all private workplaces. Also included in the legislation was ending the sale of tobacco products through vending machines and prohibiting a tobacco retailer or distributor from giving away tobacco products.

Lastly, the Lung Association and partners were successful in defeating a measure that would have reduced the tax on synthetic nicotine pouches. In 2019, the Maine Legislature equalized the tax rate of all products and in 2024 we built upon that law to ensure synthetic nicotine products were included. Despite significant tobacco industry efforts to repeal the law in 2025, LD 278 failed to pass the Maine Legislature and the tax remains in effect.

The American Lung Association in Maine will continue to work with our coalition partners - the Maine Public Health Association, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and others to advance tobacco control and prevention policies and defend our successful programs and smokefree policies against rollbacks. As the legislature begins its work in 2026, the Lung Association will continue to grow our coalition to educate policymakers, business leaders and the media of the importance of the Lung Association's goals to reduce tobacco use and protect public health.