Poll: Two-thirds of U.S. Support $1 Tobacco Tax Hike

A new national poll finds that 67 percent of voters support a $1 tobacco tax increase.  The poll also found that voters far prefer higher tobacco taxes to other options, such as other tax increases or budget cuts, for addressing state budget deficits.

The poll was released along with a report entitled: Tobacco Taxes: A Win-Win-Win for Cash-Strapped States. The report, released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  The report details the revenue and health benefits to each state of increasing its cigarette tax by $1 per pack. According to the report, if every state and Washington, DC, did so, they would:

·        Raise $9.1 billion in new annual revenue;

·        Prevent more than 2.3 million kids from becoming smokers;

·        Prompt more than 1.2 million adult smokers to quit;

·        Prevent more than 1 million premature, smoking-caused deaths; and

·        Save $52.8 billion in health care costs.