Higher Cigarette Taxes Deter Teen Smokers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that current smoking among U.S. high school students has dropped to the lowest levels in a decade ( May 17). That’s encouraging news for our nation’s health, though at 28.5% the high school smoking rate is still too high. Here in California we are already ahead of the nation, with a smoking rate among 12- to 17-year-olds put at 7.1% in 2000, but much more needs to be done. One promising action is a 50-cents-per-pack tax increase proposed by Gov. Gray Davis that would put total state taxes on cigarettes at $1.37.

Teenage smokers are especially sensitive to price increases, studies have shown. The last time California increased cigarette taxes--50 cents in 1999--smoking among the 12- to 17-year-old population fell 35.5%. Combined with effective anti-tobacco media campaigns and programs in schools and communities, Gov. Davis’ proposed 57.5% tax hike should discourage many more young people from lighting up.

The fact is that individual smokers, young and old, are not paying their own way--society is. According to a CDC study in April, every pack of cigarettes sold in the U.S. costs us more than $7 in medical care and lost productivity, or more than $157billion annually. That is $157billion more than any of us should be willing to pay.

C. Anderson Johnson

Director, Transdisciplinary

Tobacco Use Research Center

USC