The Nation - News from Sept. 9, 1985

A Harvard University report concluded that hundreds of thousands of low-income American smokers might quit and hundreds of thousands of teen-agers might never take up the habit if Congress raises the tax on cigarettes next month. The report, details of which were just released, “confirms what we have sensed for some time: An increased excise tax would likely impact the number of smokers, particularly young smokers,” said Harvard official John M. Pinney. The 16-cent cigarette excise tax is scheduled to be cut in half on Oct. 1, although some legislators have urged Congress to double it.