Lifelines Online
Published: June, 2009; Vol. 6, Num. 1

Feds Sharply Boost Tobacco Tax
“It was April 1st, but the government wasn’t fooling,” says LHSFNA Management Co-Chairman Noel C. Borck. “It jumped the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 61 cents to $1.01 a pack. That has gotten the attention of tobacco users everywhere.”
Together with state excise taxes, smokers now pay as much as $3.76 (New York) in taxes on every pack they buy. The lowest taxes – $1.18 per pack – are paid in Missouri. After manufacturers’ wholesale prices and retailer mark-ups are included, the price tops $10 a pack in some locales.
At that rate, a pack-a-day smoker spends up to $3,650 a year on cigarettes.  Taxes on other tobacco products were also increased.
“While our Fund and the American Cancer Society have long encouraged people to give up smoking,” says Borck, “it is a fact that tax increases also play a significant role in cutting tobacco use.” 
In the past, a ten percent price hike has produced a four percent drop in consumption. Matthew McKenna, Director of the Office of Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), conservatively estimates that at least one million of the nation’s 45 million smokers will give up the habit in reaction to the federal tax increase.
While the federal rate hike went into effect on April 1st, many states are now considering further increases in their state tobacco taxes during their current legislative sessions. Due to the economic crisis, state budgets are tight, and a higher tax on tobacco seems a way to raise money from a relatively small citizen group – about 21.6 percent of Americans smoke – while encouraging them to give up a life-threatening habit. 
Tobacco use is a problem among Laborers, who smoke at a higher rate than the general population. The LHSFNA provides a wide array of posters and brochures designed to encourage and help efforts to quit. These are available through the Fund’s online catalogue. The Centers for Disease Control provides links to a variety of additional help resources.
[Steve Clark]
 

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