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Tobacco Industry Expands Lobbying Efforts by 24% across the U.S. in 2025
New Data Released in ASH’s Lobbyist Tracker
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 31, 2025 – Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) released the 4th edition of the U.S. Tobacco Industry Lobbyist and Lobbying Firm Registration Tracker to shine a light on the well-funded tobacco industry lobbying machine that seeks to protect its profits to the detriment of all Americans’ health. The Tracker aims to support advocates and policymakers who are committed to enacting strong public health measures and understand they must actively exclude tobacco companies to do so.
There is an irreconcilable conflict of interest between tobacco companies and public health.
Unfortunately, there was a 24% increase in tobacco industry registrations in 2025, with 1,275 lobbyist or lobbying firm registrations compared to 1,027 registrations in 2024.
“Tobacco products kill when used as intended. Anyone advocating on behalf of the interests of the tobacco industry should be ignored. Tobacco lobbyists’ interests are diametrically opposed to the interests of public health,” said Nichelle Gray, Manager of Engagement and Special Programs at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and lead researcher for the ASH Lobbyist Tracker. “The ASH Lobbyist Tracker draws a clear line in the sand and allows advocates, policymakers, and the public to know who to trust and who to ignore on public health policies.”
Pennsylvania and Florida remain the two U.S. states with the most tobacco industry lobbyists, with New Jersey jumping into third place over Tennessee, now in fourth place for 2025.
Explore the ASH Lobbyist Tracker here>
“The dramatic increase in lobbyists shows the tobacco industry hasn’t changed and is doing more than ever to fight effective policies that protect kids and save lives,” said Annie Tegen, Vice President for State Advocacy Programs at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “This valuable tool shines a bright spotlight on the industry’s harmful lobbying and should encourage policymakers at every level to side with kids and public health over Big Tobacco.”
Lobbying is not inherently problematic; the problem arises when lobbyists work on behalf of companies whose products kill when used exactly as intended. There is no safe use of cigarettes; they kill roughly two-thirds of long-time users and sicken millions more every year.
“Big Tobacco and their allies continue to infiltrate the halls of Capitol buildings across the country through their network of lobbyists that provide problematic policy language often disguised as business rights and have the audacity to claim to be part of the regulatory and prevention process,” said Traci Kennedy, Midwest States Strategist at Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “A tool that allows advocates to more precisely understand the correlation between lobbyists, lawmakers and political contributions is essential to defeating rollback threats as well as preventing industry language from becoming the law of the land.”
Cigarettes are extremely addictive and can cause disease in nearly every organ of the body. Their manufacturers have no place in public health policymaking. When it’s not possible to actively exclude tobacco industry representatives due to U.S. law, we must ensure their “advice” is ignored.
Key Insights from the ASH Tracker:
– In 2025, ASH identified 1,275 tobacco industry lobbyist or lobbying firm registrations, involving 1,140 distinct lobbyists or lobbying firms. This is a 24% increase in tobacco industry registrations compared to 2024 (1,027 registrations) and a 37.5% increase since 2023 (927 registrations).
– As of July 1, 2025, tobacco companies have already spent $8,375,000 to employ 217 lobbyists of which 72.35% are former government employees, who may have increased access and leverage.
– Vapor Technology Association saw the most significant increase from 19 registrations in 2024 to 87 in 2025, a358% increase.
– JUUL registrations, which had dropped significantly from 95 in 2023 to 26 in 2024 (a decline of 73%), increased to 56 in 2025—marking a 115% rise compared to 2024.
– Philip Morris International (PMI) saw an increase from 145 registrations in 2024 to 206 registrations in 2025, a 42% increase.
– Reynolds saw an increase from 197 registrations in 2024 to 217 registrations in 2025, a 10% increase.
– In at least 13 states—including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island—and the District of Columbia, lobbying firms or employers can register in place of individual lobbyists, allowing the tobacco industry to mask from public view the actual number and names of individual lobbyists who are working on their behalf in those states.
The ASH Lobbyist Tracker is a groundbreaking tool that empowers health-focused policymakers, advocates, and the public with unprecedented transparency into the tobacco industry’s lobbying activities.
Data from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are now compiled and standardized to expose who is lobbying for Big Tobacco—and how much time and money they spend to undermine public health. By revealing the scope and scale of tobacco industry influence, the Tracker helps advocates demand accountability and push back against the industry’s efforts to block lifesaving policies and maintain its deadly business model.
ASH and partners Americans for Non-Smokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF) and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids are hosting a webinar Thursday, July 31, 2025 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm Eastern to discuss tobacco industry lobbying in the U.S. Register for free here>
ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH
Founded in 1967, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is America’s oldest anti-tobacco organization, dedicated to a world with ZERO tobacco deaths. Because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, ASH supports bold solutions proportionate to the magnitude of the problem. ash.org
