Cigarette Tax Increase Could Have Large Public Health Impact

Increasing Massachusetts' tax on cigarettes by a dollar could prevent as many as 27,200 premature deaths associated with smoking in the state, according to Frank Chaloupka, a nationally recognized health economist.

Chaloupka spoke at a March 6 forum at HSPH sponsored by the Tobacco Control Working Group, directed by HSPH Professor Gregory Connolly. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Massachusetts General Hospital Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center's Risk Reduction Program, and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center's Cancer Disparities Program in Development.

View a webcast.

Chaloupka directs ImpacTeen: A Policy Research Partnership for Healthier Youth Behavior. He is also a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He estimated that a $1 per pack increase in the Massachusetts state cigarette tax would reduce cigarette sales by between 26 and 50 million packs per year; lead between 25,800 to 34,909 adult smokers to quit; and prevent between 46,000 to 61,100 youth from taking up smoking.

The Massachusetts state legislature has been considering whether a cigarette tax increase could provide additional revenue for its first-in-the-nation, near-universal health care law. Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi have raised the possibility of increasing the cigarette tax to help fund implementation of the law. On March 3, 2008, Murray proposed applying the new taxes to fund an electronic medical records system aimed at controlling health care costs. The website Boston.com reported on March 6, 2008, that Gov. Deval Patrick said he could sign off on an increase if it reached his desk.

Chaloupka's PowerPoint presentation may be downloaded.

Fellow speaker Brian Rosman, research director at the non-profit agency Health Care for All, said that tobacco taxes are a good source for filling the gap in funding for the Massachusetts health reform law. Cigarette taxes provide a stable source of revenue, he said. Additionally, as more people quit smoking, the costs of the public health programs that deal with the illnesses of smokers will be reduced.

Rosman's PowerPoint presentation may be downloaded.

Howard Koh, HSPH associate dean and Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health, opened the event by stating that cigarette tax increases have been recommended by the World Health Organization and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) as an effective means of reducing tobacco consumption, particularly among young people. Furthermore, the IOM recommended that taxes on tobacco should be indexed to inflation. Prior to joining HSPH, Koh served as Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health.

—Amy Roeder. Photo by Suzanne Camarata.