Health News
- Uk Cancer-center Director Urges Lawmakers To Raise Cigarette Tax And Pass A Statewide Smoking Ban To Reduce Cancer Deaths
The Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky supports a statewide smoking ban and an increase in the state cigarette tax to significantly reduce cancer deaths in the state, the center's director told a legislative committee Sept. 3....
- Teens Turning To Flavored Cigars
A study shows teens are dispensing with cigarettes and turning to flavored mini-cigars with fun flavors ? strawberry, chocolate, vanilla ? enticing to young palates. (National Cigar Museum picture) "Young smokers say these cigarette-size little cigars...
- Heavy Smoking Less Common Than 40 Years Ago
The percentage of people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day decreased significantly from 1965 to 2007 in the United States, according to a study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. There was also a decline in...
- General Revenues Up, Cigarette Tax Revenues Down As Tax Is Up
New numbers show revenues to Kentucky's General Fund, which pays for most state services besides roads, increased 5.4 percent since July 1, but money from the state's cigarette tax declined by 3.9 percent, perhaps in part because higher tobacco...
- New Study Shows Higher Tobacco Taxes Greatly Reduce Youth Smoking
Health advocates today urged Illinois leaders to increase the cigarette tax by $1/pack following a new national study that confirms higher tobacco taxes are very effective at reducing smoking and other tobacco use, especially among kids. The new study,...
Health News
Study: Raising cigarette taxes does curb even heavy smoking
The more you raise cigarette taxes, the less people smoke. That presumption was confirmed this week in a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This has some resonance in Kentucky, where just last week the state?s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform told Gov. Beshear the state should raise taxes on tobacco, to $1 per pack from 60 cents. Other forms of tobacco would get a corresponding tax hike, reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. The changes would raise an estimated $120 million in revenue and, if the research is right, cut down on long-term health care costs.
The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. ?Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,? says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. ?But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that?s very good news.? In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average. In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)
In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky?s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.
The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. ?Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,? says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. ?But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that?s very good news.? In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average. In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)
In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky?s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.
- Uk Cancer-center Director Urges Lawmakers To Raise Cigarette Tax And Pass A Statewide Smoking Ban To Reduce Cancer Deaths
The Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky supports a statewide smoking ban and an increase in the state cigarette tax to significantly reduce cancer deaths in the state, the center's director told a legislative committee Sept. 3....
- Teens Turning To Flavored Cigars
A study shows teens are dispensing with cigarettes and turning to flavored mini-cigars with fun flavors ? strawberry, chocolate, vanilla ? enticing to young palates. (National Cigar Museum picture) "Young smokers say these cigarette-size little cigars...
- Heavy Smoking Less Common Than 40 Years Ago
The percentage of people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day decreased significantly from 1965 to 2007 in the United States, according to a study in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. There was also a decline in...
- General Revenues Up, Cigarette Tax Revenues Down As Tax Is Up
New numbers show revenues to Kentucky's General Fund, which pays for most state services besides roads, increased 5.4 percent since July 1, but money from the state's cigarette tax declined by 3.9 percent, perhaps in part because higher tobacco...
- New Study Shows Higher Tobacco Taxes Greatly Reduce Youth Smoking
Health advocates today urged Illinois leaders to increase the cigarette tax by $1/pack following a new national study that confirms higher tobacco taxes are very effective at reducing smoking and other tobacco use, especially among kids. The new study,...