Steady Increases in Tobacco Taxes Promote Quitting, Discourage Smoking

The largest federal tax increase in US history is expected to reduce smoking, especially among adolescents and young adults.

As many countries observe World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the recent federal tobacco tax increase—the largest in U.S. history—looks to promote quitting and discourage cigarette consumption. The federal tax increase also keeps the nation on track with a significant Healthy People 2010 objective.

When this increase went into effect on April 1, 2009, the tax on cigarettes rose from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack. This tax increase brought the combined federal and average state tax for cigarettes above $2.00 per pack, achieving the Healthy People 2010 objective in this area. The federal cigarette tax has increased from 24 cents per pack in 1995 to $1.01 per pack in 2009 (a 321% increase), according to CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

The MMWR also reports that the average state cigarette tax increased from 33 cents in 1995 to $1.20 per pack in 2009 (a 267% increase). A state-to-state comparison shows that when the study was conducted South Carolina had the lowest state tax at 7 cents per pack, while New York had the highest state tax at $2.75 per pack. Furthermore, tobacco growing states and other bordering southeastern states had a cigarette tax rate substantially lower than the national average of $1.20 per pack.

Research shows that tax increases on tobacco products are an effective policy intervention designed to prevent initiation of adolescents and young adults, reduce cigarette consumption, and increase the number of smokers who quit. A 10% increase in the price of cigarettes is estimated to reduce consumption by 4%.

Such tax increases have also been shown to be more effective and have a greater public health impact when combined with other comprehensive tobacco control programs that reduce the prevalence of smoking through evidence-based policy tools. Increasing the price of cigarettes through tax increases can also diminish socioeconomic smoking disparities because low income groups are more responsive to price increases.

World No Tobacco Day

In honor of World No Tobacco Day—an annual event sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1987 to help raise public awareness of the dangers of tobacco use—CDC joins with its global tobacco-control partners to promote evidence-based strategies that are comprehensive, sustained, and accountable and have been shown to reduce smoking among youth and adults and protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke (SHS). The theme of this year's observance is "Tobacco Health Warnings."

Tobacco use is one of the major preventable causes of premature death and disease in the world. WHO attributes approximately 5.4 million deaths per year to tobacco use (or one in ten deaths among adults worldwide), a number expected to exceed 8 million per year by 2030.

Evidence-based tobacco control programs that are comprehensive, sustained, and support nonsmoking behaviors have been shown to prevent and reduce tobacco use. Such programs combine educational, clinical, regulatory, economic, and social strategies to establish smoke-free policies and social norms, to promote and assist tobacco users to quit, and to prevent initiation of tobacco use. Strategies include increasing the unit price of tobacco products and implementing smoking bans through policies, regulations, and laws; providing insurance coverage of tobacco use treatment; and limiting minors’ access to tobacco products. As part of a comprehensive tobacco control program, prominent tobacco health warnings that appear on packs of cigarettes have been proven to motivate users to quit and to reduce the appeal of tobacco for those who are not yet addicted.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control calls on countries to implement scientifically proven measures to reduce tobacco use and its toll, including—

• Implementing measures to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke
• Increasing the price of tobacco
• Combating cigarette smuggling
• Regulating the contents of tobacco products
• Banning all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (in accordance with their constitution or constitutional principles)
• Placing large, graphic health warnings on cigarette packs

As WHO uses the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2009 as an opportunity to renew global efforts in tobacco control, another article in the same issue of MMWR reports that data from WHO indicate that the cost-effective measure of placing prominent tobacco health warnings on packs of cigarettes has only been implemented in a few countries. Pictorial warnings combined with effective text warnings are synergistic and provide the maximum effect in providing information that also increases risk perception and cessation. As WHO raises awareness among member states on the effectiveness of using tobacco packaging to transmit health messages, member states will realize the health and economic gains that might be achieved through the relatively inexpensive implementation of effective legislation.

Additional information

• Federal and State Cigarette Excise Taxes—United States, 1995–2009 MMWR Weekly, May 22, 2009:58(19);524–527.
• Health Warnings on Tobacco Products—Worldwide, 2007 MMWR Weekly, May 22, 2009:58(19);528–529.
• World No Tobacco Day 2008 MMWR Weekly, May 22, 2009:58(19);541.