Raising taxes on tobacco products will protect kids and save lives
Editor
May 23, 2012
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has signed a life-saving increase in the state's tax on little cigars and smokeless tobacco, products that the tobacco industry is marketing heavily in a bid to entice youth to use tobacco.
Lower tax rates on cigars and smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes have helped fuel an increase in teen use of these products. While cigarette smoking among Maryland high school students has decreased nearly 40 percent since 2000, cigar use has increased by more than 11 percent during the same period.
Continue reading Maryland Leads with First Tobacco Tax Hike of 2012
posted May 23, 2012
Editorials back ballot measure to increase cigarette tax, fund tobacco prevention and cancer research
Editor
Apr 30, 2012
California’s newspapers aren’t fooled by tobacco industry lies about Proposition 29 – and they’re urging voters to beat back the scare tactics and support the measure to increase cigarette taxes, fund tobacco prevention programs and boost cancer research to save lives.
Continue reading California Newspapers: Don’t Believe Big Tobacco’s Lies
posted April 30, 2012
Kick Butts Day Rally at Georgia State Capitol
Editor
Mar 12, 2012
With just nine days to go before Kick Butts Day, youth around the country are organizing high-impact events that highlight the dangers of tobacco use and show public officials how important it is to support policies that reduce tobacco use and saves lives. The fight against tobacco is as urgent as ever following a new U.S. Surgeon General’s report that found youth tobacco use is still a “pediatric epidemic.”
At the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, teens and health advocates will hold a rally to speak out about tobacco’s terrible toll on the state and the benefits of increasing the cigarette tax by $1. The “Bump it Up A Buck” Coalition is telling lawmakers the measure would reduce smoking, improve the health of all Georgians and generate more than $340 million in new revenue each year.
Continue reading Bump It Up a Buck to Save Lives
posted March 12, 2012
Big bucks will spread big lies about cigarette tax initiative
Editor
Mar 6, 2012
Big tobacco companies already have coughed up nearly $15 million to try to kill a California ballot initiative that would boost the state's cigarette tax by $1 to fund cancer research and tobacco-prevention programs.
"Shame on them," says Dr. Richard Gray, president of the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate. "But we aren’t surprised — they will always put their profits before the health of millions of Californians."
Continue reading Big Tobacco Bankrolls Fight Against California Measure to Reduce Smoking, Save Lives
posted March 06, 2012
Golden State voters have golden opportunity to save lives
Editor
Feb 2, 2012
Ready to take on Big Tobacco, California health advocates have launched a blockbuster campaign for a ballot measure to raise the state’s cigarette tax by $1 a pack and use the money to fund programs to prevent tobacco use and boost cancer research.
The effort to pass Proposition 29, a ballot initiative to be put to voters in June, brought public officials, health advocates, cancer survivors, students – and mattresses bearing the slogan “Let’s See Who’s In Bed with Big Tobacco” – to kickoff events in cities and towns all up and down the Golden State.
Continue reading Blockbuster Kick-Off in California Campaign for Cigarette Tax to Fund Prevention and Research
posted February 02, 2012
Push toward higher taxes on cigars, smokeless, loose tobacco
Editor
Jan 30, 2012
States around the country are getting wise to the tobacco industry's promotion of products such as sweet-flavored cigars and smokeless tobacco as a way to hook kids and offset the decline in cigarette smoking: Increasingly, governors and lawmakers are proposing higher taxes on "other tobacco products" that too often have been left out when cigarette taxes are hiked.
Continue reading Tax Hikes Proposed on All Tobacco Products as States Seek to Close Loopholes, Thwart Industry
posted January 30, 2012
Windfall disproves industry claims on lost revenues
Editor
Nov 15, 2011
Mexico saw a surge in tobacco tax revenues from January through September 2011, according to the finance ministry — the result of a 2010 hike in tobacco taxes that industry opponents had claimed would increase smuggling and lose revenue.
Instead, Mexico's finance minister said the historic increase in cigarette taxes, which raised the tax per cigarette pack by seven pesos, boosted revenues by 9 percent after adjusting for inflation.
Continue reading Mexico Reaps Revenue Gains from Tobacco Tax
posted November 15, 2011
Voters could get chance to raise cigarette taxes, fund education and tobacco prevention
Editor
Sep 23, 2011
Missouri’s meager, 17-cents-per-pack cigarette tax — the lowest in the nation — could be raised by 80 cents, reducing smoking and generating $300 million to help fund public education, state universities and programs to help smokers quit and keep kids from starting.
It’s truly a win-win for the state.
Continue reading Low-Tax Missouri Can Lift Itself from Bottom of the Pack
posted September 23, 2011
Conservative Michigan governor has courage to save lives
Jodi Radke, Regional Advocacy Director
Sep 21, 2011
When Republican Rick Snyder ran for Michigan Governor he promised to be a strong conservative and "one tough nerd." Now that he's in the executive mansion, Snyder is showing his toughness by standing up to efforts by Big Tobacco to lower the state's cigarette tax.
Continue reading “One Tough Nerd” Stands Up to Big Tobacco
posted September 21, 2011
CBS News highlights “tiny tobacco tariffs” in 15 states
Editor
Sep 8, 2011
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data this week showing the rate of adult smoking nationwide declined to 19.3 percent in 2010, CBS News decided to look at what it calls a "cigarette tax shocker" — the stunningly low rate of cigarette taxes in the 15 states that rank near the bottom in taxing cigarettes.
Continue reading States With Lowest Cigarette Taxes “Could Do a Lot More to Snuff Out the Smokes”
posted September 08, 2011
Revenues drop after 10-cent cut in tobacco tax
Editor
Aug 4, 2011
The upside-down logic that prompted New Hampshire lawmakers to cut the state's cigarette tax by 10 cents already has backfired: State revenues dropped by $6.6 million in July compared with July 2010 due in part to the falloff in revenues from the misguided cigarette tax cut.
Continue reading New Hampshire Hurts Health and Budget at the Same Time
posted August 04, 2011
House Speaker O’Brien blamed for helping tobacco industry at taxpayers’ expense
Editor
Jul 28, 2011
When the New Hampshire Legislature cut the state's cigarette tax by 10 cents a pack, effective July 1, it was touted as a way to boost the state's economy by reducing cigarette prices and attracting smokers from neighboring states.
It's outrageous enough that a state would encourage sales of a deadly and addictive product — one that kills 1,700 New Hampshire residents and costs the state $564 million in health care bills each year.
Continue reading A New Hampshire Giveaway to Big Tobacco
posted July 28, 2011
Abby Michaelsen works to pass California Cancer Research Act
Abby Michaelsen, National Youth Advocate of the Year
May 18, 2011
It is an immense honor to be the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids’ National Youth Advocate of the Year! I am so excited to be in Washington to receive this award and to meet my fellow advocates who have been working tirelessly in their own communities on their tobacco prevention campaigns.
At home, I’m focused on helping my local American Heart Association with our campaign for the California Cancer Research Act. This act would increase the state’s tobacco tax by $1, with all the new funds going towards tobacco prevention and cessation programs and cancer research. Voters will decide the issue in the next statewide election, though the exact date of that is still uncertain.
Continue reading Meet Our National Youth Advocate of the Year
posted May 18, 2011
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