Raising cigarette tax would create funds to back quitting programs
Wouldn’t it be great if every smoker had the opportunity to quit smoking? Cessation or “quit” services would be readily available and cost wouldn’t be a barrier. What a phenomenal thought. This could very well become a possibility by raising the tax on cigarettes to $3 per pack and by raising the tax on other tobacco products to parity.
Adding a $3 tax to every pack of cigarettes could create vital funds to back programs promoting and supporting cessation.
Courtesy photo
Tobacco-related illnesses such as heart disease, chronic respiratory ailments and stroke cost the Medicaid program $1.1 billion annually. Any attempt to address this issue must include a discussion on reducing tobacco use. Raising taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products, and dedicating that increased revenue to comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation programs, would reduce smoking rates in Michigan, especially among disproportionally impacted populations such as those with low income or mental health illnesses.
Higher tobacco prices also prevent youth from starting to use tobacco, and prompt current smokers to quit. Gov. Rick Snyder has prioritized decreasing the tobacco use rate in Michigan as part of his 4X4 Health and Wellness Plan. Raising the state tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products would move Michigan in the right direction to achieve this goal.
Policymakers are in a unique position. We know the problems caused by tobacco use and we know that comprehensive prevention and cessation programs play a critical part in the solution. We have a clear revenue source to fund the solution. All we need is the political will to act.
DeBorah Borden
Ypsilanti
Tobacco Use Prevention Coordinator
Comments
eldegee
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 6:49 p.m.
I remember this same conversation at least 20 years ago. It didn't work then, hasn't worked since then, and it won't work now. Smoking is cool, don't you know that? Plus - it helps you lose weight. Even after you have feeding tubes shoved down your larynx-free throat. Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.
LHeys
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 3:26 p.m.
What about those of us who choose to smoke, but don't receive any type of help from Medicaid, or any other welfare program for that matter? Why should we have to pay EVEN MORE into those who already squander those funds? Maybe the solution would to impose more restriction on those receiving welfare dollars, rather than attacking the pocket books of those of us who are self sufficient. I bet more people would find ways to pay for their own cigarettes and groceries if their use was prohibited in order to receive those funds.
Ignatz
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 2:01 p.m.
It's this kind of thinking that will spread to everything else that some don't want others to do. Once that happens, as is already evident with tobacco, criminal organizations will step in to heist the product and sell to those who still want to partake. Then the cry will be for more law enforcement.
Plubius
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 1:17 p.m.
Raising taxes (like these) simply increases crime. Dumb idea. In fact, almost as dumb as smoking.
John S. Armbruster
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 1:12 p.m.
My understanding concerning the tobacco settlement is that the money from the settlement was supposed to be used for treatment of tobacco related illness and education programs. Like that ever happened. The money was hijacked and diverted to a variety of other uses and very little for the uses intended in the settlement.
Jon Wax
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:37 p.m.
1. you're just jamming up the lower class. folks who smoke don't live the "high life". it's pretty obvious that booze and tobacco are what make life tolerable when you are looking up from the bottom rung. all you're gonna do is pinch folks who don't have much more left. 2. this is all well and good... as long as we keep going. you guys have been jamming up smokers for years. literally years. ok, cool. but... what about your weight? if you are obese and you are pointing fingers at smokers, uh, well, isn't that the pot with the stretch pants calling the kettle black? if we are taxing stuff, tax everyone for everything: lets add taxes to airplane tickets, gas, fast food, etc. all based on weight. i'm a smoker, i'll pay the tax and keep smokin or quit. i admit that. if you weigh 3 times the standard bmi, then you should pay 3 times as much for: health insurance, car insurance, gas, fast food, airplane tickets, etc. don't just throw stones and run. let's keep this whole thing going. tax everyone for everything. Peace Wax
DonBee
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:31 p.m.
The incentive to bring in black market tobacco already exists with counterfeit tax stamps on packs being pretty common. Raising the taxes to make an even bigger difference between Michigan and low tax states will only increase that problem. Getting people to stop smoking is a great idea, don't get me wrong, but when the price is artificially raised in one area (taxes) than people figure out how to bring in lower cost product from another area (lower taxes) and cash in on the difference. We will once again need full time investigators to hunt down the smugglers and their wholesale customers.
Basic Bob
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 9:33 a.m.
I think they should ticket people who throw cigarette butts out the window, and sentence them to pick up trash along the roads.
John Henry
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 7:05 a.m.
The problem with raising the taxes even higher is that it leads to an increase in the smuggling of cigarettes. Michigan already has a huge problem with this. If you tax them too much, people will still smoke they will just buy them illegally.
martini man
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 3:55 a.m.
Yep ...just keep raising the price of cigarets until no one except the more wealthy can afford them, and the people will be saved from themselves. Sort of like prohibition back in the 1920's and today's war on drugs . It really worked great didn't it ??? I think the drug problem has disappeared hasn't it ? The criminal element hopes that the liberals will tax tobacco until it forces people to buy it from them. Probably a similar mind set with the gun control that liberals are fighting for. Disarm the law abiding citizens and the crooks will get their weapons from the black market. Same with the cigs , but you'll never convince a liberal of it . Anyhow , in the short term, the extra tax money will come in handy for wasteful projects and boondoggles.
justcurious
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 1:09 a.m.
Sounds like a way that therapists can increase their salaries.
David Paris
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:36 a.m.
This sounds like just an evil tax idea. As Top Cat pointed out, smoking is down substantially from it's peak; any more pressure on smokers will have more detrimental effects than positive effects- compare to the war on drugs, and prohibition as examples. Surely we can find a more worthy cause to focus on than try to blood out of THIS turnip!
BernieP
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:27 a.m.
C'mon commenters... show a tad of respect. I mean, it's her job you know.
BernieP
Sun, Apr 21, 2013 : 11:38 p.m.
Yes "M", our tax dollars at work.
M
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 11:11 a.m.
"Silence in the face of evil is evil itself" "Those complicit with tyranny are also tyrants" If her job is to enact fascist laws and erode my freedom, she deserves no respect.
a2cents
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:24 a.m.
MI was already given money (by the tobacco industry) that would fund just such programs & it was squandered. Sorta: been there done that.
1bit
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 1:29 a.m.
What are you talking about exactly? Unlike other states, Michigan did not squander its money from the tobacco settlement and funds from that basically were the genesis of the life sciences corridor.
Top Cat
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:17 a.m.
Use of cigarettes was at about 50% of the adult male population in the 1950s. It is now 20%. Something has worked. People respond to incentives and the increase in cigarette taxes has been a success.
johnnya2
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 2:30 a.m.
The taxes are not the reason at all, In fact the taxes have not kept pace with infaltion. Social norms have been the reason, not tax rates.
Jim Clarkson
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:15 a.m.
Smokers do have the opportunity to quit by not buying cigarettes. How about we tax fast food, sugary drinks and candy to help pay for the cost of Diabetes care with medicaid. "Considering it now costs the federal government $80 billion to take care of people with diabetes, these costs will pale in comparison when there are 138 percent more Americans with diabetes in 2025," said Sean Clements, associate director of media relations for Novo Nordisk. Another study, reported in April by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, said Medicare spent $88.3 billion in 2006 on diabetes and related illnesses. Personally I am getting tired of all these "sin" taxes.
johnnya2
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 2:29 a.m.
I have no problem with taxing so called junk food. Just as I see no problem taxing cigarettes, marijuana or alcohol. These are CHOICES, and if you make these choices you should pay for them. If you CHOOSE to drive without a seat belt your insurance will be increased, if you choose to drive too fast and get tickets your insurance goes up. If you choose to act irresponsibly you should pay more. The problem with obesity is empty calories have become TOO cheap. A $1 meal at a fast food joint has almost zero nutritional benefit, but leaves people feeling full. It leads to obese, malnurished people. If the price to do that is raised, people will buy vegetables, fruits and other healthier alternaties.
justcurious
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 1:11 a.m.
Jim Clarkson I love how you think. What you said is spot on. Tax the corn lobby!
annarboral
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 : 11:20 p.m.
Wouldn't it be great if people who wrote letters to the editor were taxed $1,000 every time so the funds could help people that needed to quit smokong? I don't smoke but cigarette taxes are already at extreme levels so we clearly need new funding sources. I'm sure you'll be the first to support this initiative!
TheDiagSquirrel
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 : 11:16 p.m.
An idealistic and wishful solution for something that won't ever stop, as long as it continues to be sold. You could raise the total price of cigarettes to almost $20 (like some places already have), and people will still smoke. And the government won't do a meaningful thing about it, as long as lobbying is allowed to take place. Your opinion piece is irrelevant compared to the millions of dollars spent by tobacco companies lobbying our lawmakers.
grye
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 : 11:09 p.m.
Smokers already have an opportunity to quit. It's called the "don't buy any" program. If you don't buy, you dont' smoke. I would rather see a $1 per cigarratte (not pack) "Butt Deposit" to force smokers to return their butts instead of crushing them on the ground or throwing them out the window of the car. Bet the State could make a pretty penny off of that.
81Viking
Tue, May 14, 2013 : 3:13 p.m.
M - maybe you should carry a small Ziploc bag with you to put them in. However, the butts don't make you intolerably stinky any more than smoking makes you stinky. People who smoke don't realize how they smell because they are so used to it. I smell the nastiness just walking past a smoker in the hallway, and customers who chain smoke come into our office area for one or two minutes and stink up the whole area, forcing us to spray air freshener as soon as the leave.
grye
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 11:32 a.m.
Yes, I smell them all the time. My son smokes. I hate it. But I also hate looking at butts on the side of the road at off ramps or walking down the street. Pop cans became an eye sore so a deposit was declared to hopefully reduce trash thrown out the car window. Let's do the same with cigarette butts. I could care less how much it would stink while someone holds on to their butts waiting to turn them in for a refund.
M
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 11:05 a.m.
Oy. Please change... It stinks ten times worse than the smoking or the way a smoke smells after smoking to It stinks ten times worse than the smoking or the way a SMOKER smells after smoking
M
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 11:04 a.m.
@gyre - This is a terrible idea. I take it you've never smoked. Have you ever held onto a smoked cigarette butt for an hour? It stinks ten times worse than the smoking or the way a smoke smells after smoking. If your suggestion is to make a pack of cigarettes $27 to buy, and make every smoker intolerably stinky, then just belly up to the bar and make them illegal, and stop dancing around the situation.
mgoscottie
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:35 a.m.
I love it, hopefully I didn't misread sarcasm.....
FaithInYpsi
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 12:11 a.m.
You obviously don't fully understand the issue.
EyeHeartA2
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 : 11:01 p.m.
Anybody who was going to quit due to price already has.
jns131
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 5:48 p.m.
Or goes to Toledo to get a few cartons to keep their habit cheap.
johnnya2
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 : 2:24 a.m.
Wait, so are you saying higher taxes wiill nto change their behavior versus at lower tax rates? There could be ZERO taxes on cigarettes and I will not start and for some smokers there could be $100 per pack tax and they will still smoke Proves the point that taxes are NOT the biggest issue controlling behaviour. It doesnt change hiring behaviour or where a business locates.
Tom Todd
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 : 11 p.m.
When everyone quits smoking, taxes will need to increase for all to pay for everything
Brad
Wed, Apr 17, 2013 : 10:47 p.m.
Raising it TO $3 a pack or BY $3 a pack?