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 suici...