Cheyenne, Wyo. (Dec. 4, 2017)—In its final meeting of the year, the Joint Revenue Committee voted 8-7 to introduce a bill in the 2018 legislative session that will increase the state’s tobacco tax by $1 per pack of cigarettes, with an equal tax on all tobacco products, including chewing tobacco. Jason Mincer, Wyoming government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) released the following statement:
"ACS CAN thanks the Joint Revenue Committee for its decision to introduce a $1 tobacco tax increase in 2018. We know that a regular and significant price increase of at least $1 on all tobacco products is proven to prevent kids from this deadly addiction and help current tobacco users quit successfully. In fact, every state that's raised the price of tobacco products by at least this amount has seen a sharp decline in the number of cigarette packs sold. This means fewer kids starting to smoke, and less preventable disease and death.
"If passed by the Legislature in 2018 and signed by Governor Mead, a $1 tobacco tax increase would prevent 2,400 kids in Wyoming from becoming adult smokers, while helping 2,800 current smokers quit. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in our state, and this price increase would also save 1,400 lives from premature death.
"Additionally, the revenue from a $1 tobacco tax increase would generate roughly $22 million in new revenue. Right now, smoking costs our state $258 million in annual health care costs, and with the state facing severe budget challenges, we hope the Legislature considers this tobacco tax increase as a viable solution.
"We look forward to working with the Revenue Committee, the Legislature and Governor Mead on passing and implementing this tobacco tax increase in the 2018 legislative session to reduce the toll of tobacco and raise critical state revenue."
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.