TOBACCO: TAX HIKES LOWER SMOKING RATES
Tax hikes on tobacco products are successful in cutting theThis is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
smoking rate, according to a report released today by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention in the MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY
WEEKLY REPORT. The state-by-state report found that a $0.25
increase in the tobacco tax proved effective at curtailing
smoking in California and Massachusetts. Between 1993 and 1996,
smoking rates have dropped by 20% in Massachusetts and by 15% in
California, while smoking in all other states declined by only
six percent. "The fact that smoking rates in Massachusetts and
California have dropped faster and are more than around the rest
of the country is the best proof ever that we can reduce the
number of Americans who die from smoking with the right public
policies," said Matthew Meyers of the National Center for
Tobacco-Free Kids (Schwartz, WASHINGTON POST, 11/8).
CALIFORNIA: AP/Colorado Springs GAZETTE TELEGRAPH reports
that 15.5% of adults in California smoked regularly in 1995,
compared with 26% in 1984. Voters approved a cigarette tax hike
in 1989 from $0.10 to $0.35 cents per pack. The extra revenue
"goes toward anti-smoking campaigns, including TV and radio
public service announcements, hot lines and programs in schools."
John Banzhaf, executive director of the Washington-based Action
on Smoking and Health, said that "higher taxes are the best way
to curb teen smoking," as well. "You talk about a 13-year-old
kid who's saving up for a rock concert or a new CD and suddenly
they are having to pay more for cigarettes. This provides us
with a way of getting to a group which previously has been
difficult to get to," he said (11/8).
MASSACHUSETTS: The state enacted a $0.25 increase in the
cigarette tax in 1992, which has resulted in "at least" a 17%
drop in smoking, BOSTON GLOBE reports. According to the CDC
report, cigarette smoking in the state has dropped three times
faster than the national average. According to Dr. Jeffrey
Harris of Massachusetts General Hospital, the study's author, the
decrease is not explained by economic factors because tobacco
companies lowered the price of cigarettes around that time the
tax hike went into effect. He concluded that "the major
explanation for the drop is the $116 million poured into
television ads and educational programs by the antismoking
campaign."
TOBACCO: Walker Merryman, spokesperson for the Tobacco
Institute, said that the report "glosses over or completely
ignores" the fact that many Massachusetts' smokers are driving to
New Hampshire to purchase tobacco at lower prices. New Hampshire
is "the only New England state where cigarette sales have climbed
since 1992" (Howe, 11/8). Tobacco advocates have also said that
the price increases encourage "smuggling that can cost a state
... tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue while hurting
retailers" (Feder, NEW YORK TIMES, 11/8).
MORE: "More than 5 million of today's underage smokers will
eventually die because of tobacco-related illnesses," according
to another report released by the CDC yesterday. Michael
Eriksen, of the CDC Office on Smoking and Health said the report
"should serve 'as a wake-up call' that unless society takes steps
to avoid it, millions 'will die needlessly as a result of an
adolescent decision." Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
Shalala said that report shows that "we cannot afford any delay
in implementing President Clinton's Children's Tobacco
Initiative," referring to the administration's efforts to
regulate tobacco advertising and marketing aimed at children and
teens. A tobacco industry spokesperson called the report "a
transparent attempt to give support to an intensely political
initiative" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/8).