A Tobacco Tax Increase Will Save
Thousands of Alaska's Children
  • According to the Centers for Disease
    Control, approximately 56,246 of
    Alaska's children will become
    smokers, and 17,999 will die
    prematurely as adults because of a
    smoking-related illness.
  • Raising the state tax by $1,00 will
    save the lives of more than 5,700 of
    Alaska's children.
The Tobacco Industry has Raised Cigarette Prices
Aggressively; Cigarette Taxes have Remained Low
  = Federal Cigarette Tax   = Average State Tax   = Average Price per Pack  
Source: The Tobacco Institute, The Tax Burden on Tobacco, Vol. 28, P. 239.
Chart produced by the Coalition on Smoking OR Health.

The Need to Index Tobacco Taxes

Tobacco taxes should be indexed to keep pace, at a minimum, with inflation. Failure to index tobacco taxes results in a gradual erosion of health and economic benefits. In the absence of indexing, federal and state tobacco taxes fell from 51 percent of the retail price of cigarettes in 1966 to 26 percent in 1992.

Average U.S. Cigarette Tax as a Percentage of Retail Price
Source: The Tobacco Institute, the Tax Burden on Tobacco, Volume 27, 1992, page 234. Chart produced by the Coalition on Smoking OR Health.

Saving Lives and Raising Revenue - February, 1995 - page 20.