Child Smoking

Higher taxes produce a decrease in the number of children who smoke. Philip Morris, a corporate giant in the tobacco industry, believes that when taxes are raised the overall number of people who use tobacco products decreases. Another large tobacco company, RJ Reynolds, has data that shows that if tobacco prices were increased by 10 percent then the number of teenage smokers would decrease by 11.9 percent. Philip Morris estimates that price increases in the early 1980s caused approximately two million adults to quit smoking and prevented 600,000 teenagers from starting.

Overall Effects

Tax increases effect the overall population in dramatic ways. For every 10 percent increase in cigarette prices, cigarette use is lowered by three to five percent. Price increases caused by higher taxes on cigarettes would cause minorities, such as Blacks and Hispanics, to reduce their smoking more than whites. This is because minorities have a lower average income than their white counterparts. Thus, price increases would hit minorities the hardest. Between 1970 and 2002 the federal tax on cigarettes increased from eight cents per pack to thirty-nine cents per pack and the average state tax on cigarettes increased from eleven cents per pack to forty-five cents per pack. During that time frame, smoking declined as taxes increased. The National Cancer Institute and the Surgeon General have both concluded that one of the primary ways that the number of smoking Americans, especially young Americans, could be lowered most effectively is with tax increases.

Positives for the State

Increased taxes would mean more revenue for the government. Tobacco companies profit over $2.10 per pack of cigarettes that are sold while the overwhelming majority of states do not receive $2.10 per pack. Thus, tobacco companies are making large profits while states are being left out of the financial loop.

Support for Higher Taxes

Polls spanning twenty-eight states have concluded that sixty percent of those polled are in favor of a seventy-five cent per pack increase while in most states, a cigarette tax increase is supported by voters by a margin of two to one. The support for tax increases on cigarettes seems to cross party lines as Republicans and Democrats consistently agree in polls across the nation.