RAISING CIGARETTE TAXES HARMS POOR

January 10, 2014
An op-ed discusses better alternatives to lowering smoking rates than raising taxes.
​FRANKFORT, Ky. – Jacking up the cigarette tax to reduce smoking in Kentucky is a bad idea, writes Jim Waters, president of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, in a USA Today op-ed. Instead, he proposes running more public health campaigns. Below is an excerpted version of the opinion piece.
“Consider the National Bureau of Economic Research’s 2012 report, which concludes that hiking cigarette taxes by 100% reduces smoking rates by 5%. To get this modest decrease in smoking rates, Kentucky would have to hike its cigarette tax to $1.20 per pack — higher than all but two neighboring states.
“Considering that 40% of Kentuckians live near a bordering state, such a steep rise would cause the business of many small convenience stores to go up in smoke. Increasing cigarette taxes disproportionately affects Kentucky’s poor, one-third of whom light up. …
“Education, making smoking less culturally acceptable and appealing to citizens’ personal responsibility have been effective in reducing smoking, particularly among the young. Smoking rates among Kentucky’s teens dropped dramatically during the decade even before Kentucky last raised cigarette taxes in 2009. …
“It’s ludicrous to believe that raising taxes offers a more effective approach toward reducing smoking.”