A wise man once said, "When things seem too simple, they usually are..." and your editorial "The Sin Tax Smokescreen" seems to this citizen - way too simple.
First, increasing tobacco taxes is a proven strategy to reduce smoking and other tobacco use especially among children. Harvard University researchers have said that price increases are the single most effective form of curbing tobacco use. Studies show that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7 percent and overall consumption by about 4 percent. The cigarette tax increase will lead to nearly 2 million fewer kids starting to smoke, prevent nearly 900,000 smoking-caused deaths and produce $44.5 billion in long-term health care savings by reducing tobacco-caused health care costs.
Thousands of Americans will quit smoking as a result of the tobacco tax increase. Calls to the Indiana Tobacco Quit Line 800-QUIT-NOW have increased 15 percent since the tax went into effect and, in my own quit smoking classes, 5 out of 10 people quitting said it was because the price of cigarettes had gone up. So maybe you didn't quit because the price went up, but experience and numbers show us that a lot of people did.
The funds raised from the cigarette tax increase will mean that an additional 4 million kids - including those with lung disease such as asthma - will have health insurance. According to the American Lung Association, this increased spending on children's health insurance is a very sound investment in our nation's future particularly for those children living with asthma.
Most smokers want to quit, and this price increase will help encourage them to try. Now is a great time to quit because in addition to improving their health, smokers who quit will save money. Quitlines all across the country are reporting increases in call volume in response to the tax, so it is important that Indiana has its own quit line 800-Quit-Now.
If you smoke or know anyone who wants to quit, tell them to call the 800-Quit-Now line and they will receive two weeks free supply of nicotine replacement patches or gum.
