Tax hike expected to cut teen smoking

Afsha Bawany

Thursday, July 24, 2003 | 11:19 a.m.

Health advocates estimate that a hike in Nevada's cigarette taxes will cut the number of children who smoke significantly.

"It is a triple win for Nevada. In every instance that there has been a significant tobacco tax increase in any state, there has been a corresponding drop in the number of minors smoking," Dan Geary, a spokesman for the Nevada Tobacco Coalition, said.

About 4.9 million packs of cigarettes a year are bought or smoked by children under 18 in Nevada, according to the website of the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. About 25,000 of Nevada's high school students smoked in 2000, the website said, a number confirmed by the Nevada Tobacco Coalition.

The tax, which was expected to raise $63 million for the state this year and $70 million next year, added 45 cents to a pack of cigarettes as of Wednesday.

That will mean 16,000 fewer children under 18 will be smokers because either they will quit or not start, Maria Azzarelli, a youth tobacco control coordinator for the Clark County Health District, said. The Health District also expects 10,000 adult smokers a year to quit.

"When you raise a cigarette tax, youths are sensitive to the prices, and the rate of youths smoking declines," Azzarelli said.

"This tax will also curb smoking in conjunction with other programs," Charlene Herst, a tobacco prevention program manager for the Nevada State Health Division said. "If you put money into prevention, you will not only reduce youth initiation, but youths currently smoking will ultimately quit."

Herst said for every 10 percent that is raised in excise taxes, youth smoking decreases by 4 percent. The cigarette tax, which was 35 cents a pack, rose about 130 percent.

A problem remains in trying to curb the number of smokers among 18- to 24-year-olds, Herst said.

Geary agreed.

"Adults will pay whatever it takes to get cigarettes, but kids don't have that option," he said. "The more expensive it is prevents kids from getting their hands on them."

Geary also said a higher increase in the tax also gives the state much needed revenue and reduces the cost of treating smoking- related illnesses each year. He said about $96 million a year is spent on treating these cases.