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Cigarette taxes: The straw to break the camel's back ABSTRACT Teenage
cigarette smoking is sensitive to the price of cigarettes.
The most recent research suggests that a 10% increase in
price would reduce the number of teenagers who smoke by 7%.
If the proposed 43-cent hike in the Federal excise tax rate
on cigarettes contained in the Hatch-Kennedy Bill were
enacted, the number of teenage smokers would fall by
approximately 16%. This translates into more than 2.6
million fewer smoker and more than 850,000 fewer
smoking-related premature deaths in the current cohort of 0
to 17-year-olds. Adjusted for inflation, the current
24-cent-a-pack tax costs the buyer about half of the
original cigarette tax of 8 cents imposed in 1951. A
substantial tax hike would curb youth smoking; this strategy
should move to the forefront of the antismoking
campaign.
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