Group urges Oregon to hike cigarette taxes $2 a pack

(Update: Adding news release on cigarette tax)

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network on Wednesday urged Oregon lawmakers to prioritize and pass a $2 tobacco tax increase on all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, in the 2019 session.

Gov. Kate Brown’s 2019 budget includes this tobacco tax increase to fund the state’s Medicaid program, the organization said in a news release, which continues below.

“Oregon has not raised its tobacco tax significantly since 2002. Our cigarette tax is $1.33 per pack, which ranks us 32 nd in the nation and is not high enough to have a significant public health benefit and reduce tobacco use,” said Christopher Friend, Oregon government relations director for ACS CAN. “For a state that prides itself on being so healthy, we should not be toward the bottom of the pack.”

Data from ACS CAN’s latest How Do You Measure Up? report shows Oregon has room to improve on several key tobacco control efforts to fight cancer, including its tobacco tax. Increasing the price of tobacco products with regular and significant tax increases is proven to help people quit and prevent kids from starting.

New projections from ACS CAN show the tremendous public health benefits of a $2 cigarette tax increase:

31,300 adults who currently smoke would quit; 19,200 kids under age 18 would not become new daily smokers; Youth smoking rates would decrease nearly 21 percent; 13,700 lives would be saved from a premature smoking-related death.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death and disease and each year, 5,500 Oregonians die from smoking. Roughly 28 percent of all cancer deaths in Oregon are caused by smoking, the group said.

Tobacco use remains Oregon’s and the nation’s leading cause of preventable death and disease, taking an estimated 480,000 lives every year in the U.S., according to a report released Tuesday night by the American Lung Association.

This year’s “State of Tobacco Control” report finds that Oregon eared failing grades on its efforts to reduce and prevent tobacco use. The organization called on the Oregon Legislature to increase tobacco taxes and adequately fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs to save lives.

The need for Oregon to protect youth from tobacco is more urgent than ever, the group said, with youth e-cigarette use reaching epidemic levels due to a 78 percent increase in high school e-cigarette use from 2017 to 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That equals one million additional kids beginning to use e-cigarettes, placing their developing bodies at risk from the chemicals in e-cigarettes, as well as a lifetime of deadly addiction.

“Tobacco use is a serious addiction and we need to invest in the proven measures to prevent and reduce tobacco use,” said Carrie Nyssen, Senior Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association in Oregon. “The ‘State of Tobacco Control’ report provides evidence-based policies that are proven to reduce tobacco use and save lives.”

The 17 th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report grades states and the federal government on policies proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use, and finds that Oregon earns the following grades:

Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade F Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws – Grade A Level of State Tobacco Taxes – Grade F Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco – Grade D Minimum Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21 – Grade A

The American Lung Association encouraged the Oregon Legislature to invest in health by adequately funding tobacco prevention and increasing tobacco taxes.

Increasing tobacco taxes is one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use, not only among low-income individuals but also for youth. Multiple studies have shown that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by about 4 percent among adults and about 7 percent among youth.

“To protect youth from a lifetime of nicotine addiction, the Lung Association in Oregon encourages Oregon legislators to increase tobacco taxes by $2 per pack. This step is critical as current tobacco use among youth is skyrocketing,” said Nyssen.