By the Numbers:
Ohio tobacco taxes and use
Cigarettes - $1.25 per pack current, $1.85 per pack proposed
Other tobacco - 17 percent of wholesale current, equalize taxes with cigarette taxes proposed
Last increase - July 2005
Smoking rates - 23.3 percent of adults and 21.1 percent of youth in Ohio; 18 percent of adults, 18.1 percent of youth in the U.S.
The pushing and shoving over a proposal to boost Ohio’s cigarette and tobacco taxes began in earnest Thursday with public health groups singing its praises and Big Tobacco voicing opposition.
The Kasich administration wants to tax cigars, chew, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products at the same level as cigarettes and increase the per pack tax 60 cents to $1.85. The tax increase will be used to help offset an across-the-board income tax cut.
Altria, owner of tobacco giant Philip Morris, promised to fight the proposal on the grounds that it is unfair that a small segment of Ohioans would have to pay more in taxes so that everyone else gets an income tax cut and that tobacco taxes disproportionately hit low-income citizens who are more likely to be smokers.
“It creates a significant tax equity problem,” said Altria spokesman David Sutton.
Public health advocates, including pediatricians and family doctors, said at a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse that higher cigarette and tobacco taxes will prevent kids from starting smoking and encourage smokers to quit.
Dr. Craig Thiele, chief medical officer for Dayton-based CareSource, said most smokers first try cigarettes at age 11 and are addicted by 14; 70 percent start before they turn 18.
The Ohio State Medical Association said the plan has the potential to have the most profound influence on tobacco use in Ohio since voters approved the indoor smoking ban law in 2006.
Micah Berman, an assistant professor of public health and law at Ohio State University and an expert on tobacco regulation, said Kasich’s proposal would increase cigarette prices by 11 percent.
“We know from past experiences with tobacco taxes that a 10 percent increase in price leads to a 3- to 7-percent decrease in adult smoking rates and a 5- to 15-percent decrease in youth smoking rates. To put that in context, 3 percent of adult smokers in Ohio would be approximately 60,000 people,” Berman said.
Ohio last increased cigarette taxes in July 2005 to $1.25 per pack. The national average state tax on cigarettes is $1.53. In Ohio, 23.3 percent of adults and 21.1 percent of youths smoke — well above the national averages of 18 percent for adults and 18.1 percent for high school students.
The governor’s proposal would tax e-cigarettes on par with traditional tobacco products.
E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat liquid nicotine into a vapor that the user inhales. Ohio’s voter-approved indoor smoking ban does not apply to e-cigarettes. While some view e-cigarettes as a viable tool to quit smoking, Berman said that isn’t the case. “We look at them as a gateway to smoking.”
Sutton said Altria believes Ohio should hold off on taxing e-cigarettes and alternative nicotine products and give the federal Food & Drug Administration time to decided what regulations are merited.
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