Kasich tobacco tax hike would save lives
May 27, 2015 12:00 AM
2015-05-27T00:00:00
May 26, 2015
Kasich tobacco tax hike would save lives
Matthew L. Myers
Ohio lawmakers can improve both the state's health and economy with one simple step: Increase the state's tobacco tax by $1, as Gov. John Kasich has proposed. Unfortunately, the state House of Representatives missed the opportunity to do so. By refusing to raise the tobacco tax, legislators put the interests of the tobacco industry ahead of the health of Ohio kids.
The state Senate appears more supportive, so House leaders could have a second chance to support this life-saving measure in conference.
With the nation's eighth-highest adult smoking rate (23.4 percent) and a youth smoking rate over 15 percent, Ohio must act. Some 12,500 Ohio kids become daily smokers each year, and more than a quarter of a million kids alive today in Ohio will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.
Significant cigarette tax increases are proven to reduce smoking, especially among price-sensitive kids. A 20 percent jump in the price of cigarettes would reduce youth smoking by about 14 percent and overall cigarette consumption by about eight percent. The higher the tax, the more lives saved. We project that a $1 increase will prevent over 40,000 premature deaths, prevent 65,000 kids from becoming smokers, prompt over 73,000 current adult smokers to quit, and save $2.7 billion in long-term health care costs.
Read more here: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/2015/05/26/kasich-tobacco-tax-hike-save-lives/27972297