In his recent opinion column opposing Gov. Janet Mills’ proposed increase in tobacco taxes, Chris Beaulier, from Cigaret Shopper in Hampden, ignored what I see as the strongest argument in favor of a tax hike — its health benefits.
I worked in public health for over three decades. For several years, I was involved in tobacco prevention and control efforts targeting youth and young adults.
Maine has the highest cancer death rate in New England. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Maine. Tobacco users are 15 to 30 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. Most tobacco users begin using before turning 21. If we lower the rates of tobacco use, especially among young people, we will reduce deaths from lung cancer and a host of other smoking-related diseases.
We know raising cigarette taxes reduces smoking rates. This is particularly true for young people who are more sensitive to price increases than adults. When Maine raised its tax on cigarettes 20 years ago, we saw a dramatic decrease in youth smoking. But Maine hasn’t raised that tax since 2005, and except for New Hampshire, our current tobacco tax is the lowest in New England and the mid-Atlantic states.
A $1 per pack increase on cigarettes (and similar tax increases on other tobacco products) could reduce youth tobacco use and raise tens of millions of dollars that could fund critical chronic disease prevention and tobacco cessation programs.
Tell your legislators to support a tobacco tax increase.
David Jolly
Penobscot
