States and Cancer Foes Banking on Smokers to Spur Economic Growth

Public health advocates want smokers to keep lighting-up so states can cash-in

A coalition of prominent public health organizations is rallying behind a new report that shows just how valuable cigarette smokers are to cash-strapped states’ economies. Citing a “mountain of evidence” to compel North Carolina legislators to increase ‘sin taxes’ on smokers so they can “save lives,” hidden in the smokescreen is the ultimate goal of harvesting hundreds of millions in revenue by exploiting cigarette smokers’ addictions as opposed to trying to help them quit.

One might assume the North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH), an organization whose membership roster includes the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and American Lung Association, is opposed to cigarette smoking because of its perceived adverse direct and indirect health risks, but that is just a component of their tobacco-related lobbying in the State. According to Pam Seamans, executive director of the NCAH, the State shouldn’t go too far in punishing cigarette smokers if it wants to break-out of its economic slump.

“[R]aising the cigarette tax is exactly what North Carolina needs to help tackle our budget problems,” Seamans said while touting a new report that concludes a “$1 cigarette tax increase will produce large, sustained revenue needed to cut North Carolina budget deficit.” The report was developed by Dr. Frank Chaloupka in conjunction with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the NCAH.

Plugging  Holes with Smokers’ Butts

While the coalition’s revenue generating scheme contains protocols for tobacco prevention and education efforts targeted at children and teens, its overbearing goal is for states to apply a sin tax that’s bearable enough for current smokers to keep on buying cigarettes without feeling compelled to quite due to their own economic hardships, though gradual declines are anticipated.

Minimal tax increases imposed by states, as polls show with regards to ‘sin taxes’ on soda, candy and beer, do not effectively relay the message of perceived or actual health risks as opposed to reinforcing the reality that lawmakers are struggling to find ways to plug enormous holes in their budget deficits. In sum, these taxes are about balancing budgets — not changing behavior.

The NCAH and its members organizations are banking on current smokers to continue buying cigarettes at a slightly higher price that will immediately “generate approximately $366.2 million in new annual revenue.” The coalition further boasts that “direct evidence from actual state experiences that confirms that significant cigarette tax increases have always produced substantial amounts of new revenues (compared to what the state would have received without the increase), both immediately and over extended periods of time, and despite any and all related decreases in taxed state pack sales.”

Despite the NCAH’s claim that it is “advocating for policies that promote wellness and reduce the impact of obesity and tobacco,” it appears the public health coalition has no objection to allowing smokers to keep on buying cigarettes so long as their money provides a quick fix to states’ broken economies and, ultimately, ensures that the NCAH remains well-funded while continuing to claim political victories that make for good publicity.