WASHINGTON, D.C. March 29, 2012 Significantly fewer states raised their cigarette excise taxes in 2010 and 2011 than in 2009 according to an article released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH). The article, entitled State Cigarette Excise Taxes äóî United States, 2010 2011, updates a similar article released in 2010 and is featured in this week 's issue of the CDC journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The article details that six states increased their cigarette excise tax in 2010 and only three states increased their cigarette taxes in 2011, down considerably from 15 state increases in 2009. Additionally, tobacco growing states and their neighbors have the lowest tax rates in the nation.
A statement from Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows:
The CDC 's data clearly demonstrates that state legislatures are missing opportunities to protect kids and reduce the burden of tobacco use in their states. Tobacco is the only legal product that kills when used as directed, and it costs local economies billions of dollars in health care spending.
Increasing cigarette excise taxes has been proven to reduce the number of current and potential smokers. Research shows that every 10 percent increase in the price of tobacco reduces youth smoking rates by 6.5 percent and overall cigarette consumption by 4 percent. Cigarette taxes are also a powerful economic tool, directly producing sustained increases in state revenues and resulting in large savings in health care costs.
Combined with comprehensive state smoke-free laws and funding for cessation programs, increasing tobacco taxes is one of the most effective ways to curb tobacco use. ACS CAN has led the way in working with state legislatures to pass more than 100 cigarette tax increases in 47 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories since the beginning of 2002. Despite the flattening rate of increases, the national cigarette tax average is $1.46 per pack, up from $1.34 at the end of 2009 and 61 cents at the end of 2002.
The American Cancer Society and ACS CAN are currently engaged in tobacco tax increase campaigns across the country. In California, the Society and ACS CAN are supporting a ballot initiative to increase the state cigarette tax by $1, which would generate more than $700 million each year for cancer research and tobacco prevention and cessation programs. If passed on June 5, California 's Proposition 29 will result in more than 100,000 deaths averted from premature smoking and nearly 230,000 kids who will never become addicted smokers.
Society and ACS CAN advocates are engaged in a similar campaign in Missouri, which currently has the lowest cigarette tax in the country at 17 cents per pack. If passed, Missouri 's ballot initiative would increase the tax on cigarettes by 73 cents per pack and devote 20 percent of the new revenue to tobacco control in a state with some of the highest tobacco use rates in the country.
Tobacco is responsible for 443,000 deaths in the United States each year, including 30 percent of all cancer deaths and at least 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths. In response to the overwhelming evidence of the harms of tobacco use, the tobacco industry continues to spend millions of dollars per day encouraging youth and adults to smoke, and opposing proven tobacco control policies that reduce smoking rates and improve public health. The most effective way to tackle tobacco use and save lives is for lawmakers to protect and pass strong tobacco control laws in the states, including regular and significant increases in state cigarette and other tobacco taxes.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lauren Walens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5763 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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