Tobacco Coalition: 27-cent hike on cigarettes isn't enough

A coalition of public health organizations today said it’s good that the cigarette tax is now on the table before the Legislature, but the 27-cent increase proposed by the House isn’t enough because it will not reduce smoking in Vermont .

Members of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont, including the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids urged the Legislature to increase the tax by $1.00 to maximize the positive impact on public health. Established research has shown that a 10% increase in the total pack price would be the minimum needed to have any impact on reducing smoking rates and lowering health care costs in Vermont . Given that the average pack price in Vermont is currently $6.50, the proposed 27-cent increase would not be expected to produce any benefit for public health. While Vermont used to be a leader in protecting kids from tobacco initiation, we now have fallen behind most of our neighbors and have not passed a significant increase in the cigarette excise tax since 2006.

Coalition Coordinator Tina Zuk said studies have repeatedly shown that a significant increase in the price of tobacco is the best way to prevent youth from smoking, but the increase must be high in order to serve as a deterrent to youth. “Over 6,000 kids currently smoke in Vermont , the youth smoking rate has flat-lined for the last five years and the smoking rate for high school seniors and young adults is over 20%. If we want to stop kids from smoking a twenty seven cent increase in the tax won’t do it. The data shows that a 10% increase in the price of tobacco reduces adult smoking by 3-5% and youth smoking by 7%.”

American Cancer Society Vice President of Government Relations Kelly Stoddard said a higher increase in the tobacco tax is also one of the best ways to address the deficit by lowering health care spending. “Right now, Vermont spends $233 on health care related to tobacco, $72 million of which is direct Medicaid expenditures to treat tobacco-caused illnesses. We have high populations of low income smokers and those seeking mental health services who smoke – 36% and 42% respectively. Smoking is a big drain on the state’s health care spending. We can address these costs by increasing the cigarette tax by $1.00. The tax would get smokers to quit, prevent kids from smoking and has the extra bonus of saving $82 million in long term health care spending.”

A $1.00 increase in the tax would also:

* Raise $10.2 million in new annual revenue.
* Prevent 3,600 kids from becoming smokers.
* And spur 2,000 current adult smokers to quit.

A new report from Vermont’s Joint Fiscal Office concurs that a $1.00 increase in the cigarette tax would raise $10 million for Vermont and notes that a cigarette tax increase could even be considered a progressive tax if the revenues it raised were used to supplement programs and services that low income residents rely on.