Here is the answer to why Gov. Mitch Daniels and the Indiana Legislators are asking that the cigarette tax be raised. Tobacco use is the number one cause of death and disease in the United States ... in the State of Indiana ... and in Kosciusko County. Twenty-seven Hoosiers die every day because of tobacco. Tobacco causes more deaths every year than human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle accidents, suicides and murders combined, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
Indiana has the second highest smoking rate in the country. More than $1 billion per year is spent in Indiana on smoking-related health care. Indiana Medicaid spends more than $400 million on smoking-related health care costs. 49.3 percent of uninsured Hoosiers are current smokers. This rate won't drop as long as Indiana has some of the cheapest cigarettes in America. Our current rate on cigarettes is 55.5 cents, which ranks us as having the 36th lowest tax in the nation. We must increase this tax to prevent teens from smoking and encourage adults to quit.
