Significant tobacco tax increases are one of the most effective ways to prevent kids from starting to use tobacco and help adults quit.[i],[ii] Substantial increases in cigarette tax rates also generate new revenue. In fact, every state that has significantly increased its cigarette tax has also boosted its state revenue - even after accounting for revenue loss due to beneficial declines in cigarette purchases resulting from the tax increase.
[i] U.S. National Cancer Institute and World Health Organization. The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control. National Cancer Institute Tobacco Control Monograph 21. NIH Publication No. 16-CA-8029A. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; and Geneva, CH: World Health Organization; 2016.
[ii] HHS, 2014.
