Thursday, July 24, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Health authorities expect cigarette tax hikes will help curb youth smoking

Legislation that hikes cigarette taxes will prevent the premature deaths of thousands of Nevada teens who won't be able to afford the pricey packs, local health authorities said earlier in the week.

The 45-cent tax increase, the first jump in cigarette taxes in more than a decade, will keep thousands of teenagers from picking up the habit, said Maria Azzarelli, youth tobacco control educator for the Clark County Health District.

"Because of this tax, we'll have 26,000 fewer smokers in the state of Nevada," she said. "We'll have 16,000 fewer teenage smokers, and we'll save 5,100 teenagers from premature death due to smoking."

The tax increase, which went into effect Wednesday, raises the cigarette tax to 80 cents per pack from 35 cents. It's expected to bring in about $150 million in annual revenue.

Per pack cigarette taxes over 70 cents have proven nationwide to "tremendously reduce youth smoking rates," said Charlene Herst, manager of the tobacco prevention program for the Nevada State Health Division.

Dan Geary, spokesman for the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, said teenagers are a prime target for cigarette advertising and are more likely to become addicted to tobacco than adults.

"Over 80 percent of lifetime smokers begin smoking before they turn 18," he said. "The more kids you can prevent from taking up the habit, the fewer lives will be lost to tobacco-related illnesses. The one surefire method to stop kids from smoking is to increase the price of cigarettes."

Nevada retailers say they are a bit concerned that consumers will stop buying cigarettes by the pack locally and will instead buy in bulk online and avoid the tax.

"The Internet could become problematic," said Mary Lau, executive director of the Retail Association of Nevada. "I think we'll see a drop in consumption at first, but I don't think they (lawmakers) will come back to tobacco to raise taxes again in the near future."

Nevada has one of the highest rates of youth smoking in the country, with one in four teenagers indulging in the habit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state also boasts high rates of adult smokers and deaths due to lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.

Local teenager Mayo Djakaria said the tax won't keep addicted teenagers from getting their nicotine fix. She did say, however, that the price hike may keep some teens from starting up the habit in the first place.

"If you've only tried cigarettes once or twice from a friend and decide to take up the habit on your own, I think the tax increase will stop that," said Djakaria, a member of a youth tobacco prevention and education organization called XPOZ. "As far as the heavy addicts go, I'm not sure the tax will do much."

The cigarette tax will also save Nevada millions of dollars each year in medical costs related to smoking, health officials said.

"For every pack of cigarettes purchased, it costs society $7.50 more in medical bills and lost wages," Herst said.

Geary said Nevada taxpayers pay over $96 million each year in medical bills for smokers on Medicaid.

"The medical cost associated with smoking is absolutely mind boggling," he said. "Quite frankly, smokers need to pay their own way."

Nearly 3,500 Nevadans die from smoking-related diseases each year, according to the CDC. The state has a rate of 414 smoking-attributable deaths per 100,000 people. The national average is 296 smoking-attributable deaths per 100,000 people.