SEARHC educator makes case for tax on tobacco products

A local tax on tobacco products would be a "win-win-win" for Wrangell, a health educator said.

Promoting public health is a win, as is reducing smoking among teens - plus the borough could gain a new source of revenue, SEARHC Health Educator Tammi Meissner told the borough assembly Jan. 26.

"Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S.," Meissner said. "One in five adults in Southeast Alaska smoke, and one in three American Indian and Alaska Native adults smoke in Southeast Alaska. ... More Alaskans die annually from the direct effects of smoking tobacco than suicide, motor vehicle crashes, homicide, HIV, AIDS, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis combined."

Higher prices will encourage people to quit a bad habit, or to avoid relapsing if they are trying to stop using tobacco, Meissner said.

Making cigarettes more

expensive also would help prevent young people from starting to use tobacco products, she said. The percentage of youth who smoke cigarettes has been in a steady decline for years, Meissner said. However, the recent introduction of e-cigarettes has changed that trend. More young people are beginning to use tobacco products through e-cigarettes.

Every dollar-per-pack increase in the price of cigarettes reduces the number of youth who smoke by 6% to 7%, and the number of pregnant women who smoke by 7%, she told the assembly

A tobacco tax would be an economic boost to the Wrangell treasury, as well. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough collected $1.37 million in Fiscal Year 2019 from its $2-per-pack tax on cigarettes; Sitka collected $815,000 that same year from its $1.26 tax; and Petersburg earned $241,000 from its tax at $2.07 per pack, according to a state tax report. Two dozen cities and boroughs across the state had tobacco taxes as of last year.

The state tax in Alaska is $2 per pack on cigarettes and 75% on the wholesale value of cigars and other tobacco products.

Tobacco use costs Alaskans statewide about $438 million a year in direct medical costs, plus an annual $93.2 million in Medicaid costs, according to the national Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other advocacy groups.

"To get this money back, cigarettes would have to be taxed over $20 a pack to cover those medical costs," she said.

In Wrangell, the borough could use some of a tobacco tax toward prevention programs to further lower the number of people who smoke, Meissner suggested.

The final reason she said the city should consider a local tobacco tax is because there was public support, according to a survey put together by SEARHC. During the 2019 Wrangell Health Fair, she said, they surveyed 180 smokers and non-smokers, and about 82% said they were in support of at least a $2 tax on tobacco products.

"It's a win-win-win with tobacco taxes," Meissner said. "Why? It's a health win. ... It also is a financial win. Tobacco taxes can provide revenue which can be put into prevention programs for youth. ... It's a political win, there is broad support, public support, for tobacco taxes.."

Mayor Steve Prysunka said if SEARHC wants to request borough action on the issue, it should submit a written proposal.

 

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