Cigarette Sales Plummet As New Tax Goes Into Effect, But Are People Really Smoking Less?
Another possible scenario is that people had stockpiled their supplies before the tax went into effect.
Sacramento Bee:
Cigarette Sales Fall In California After Tax
Cigarette purchases in California plummeted in the first weeks of a $2-a-pack tax hike after spiking in the months before the higher prices took effect. Are people smoking cigarettes they had bought months earlier? Or is the sticker shock causing people to try to kick the habit? (Miller, 7/10)
The Mercury News/CALMatters:
Early Returns Suggest Smoking Drop In Response To State Tax
“This is a big effect,” said Dr. Stanton Glantz, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. “I have felt for a long time where we’re getting to the point in California where smoking is so low that a couple of good shoves like this one, and we might be rid of it.” (Levin, 7/10)