Did you know�
June 30th, 2005
Every household in Greenville County pays $485 annually in taxes to cover smoking related health care costs. Why? Because South Carolina ranks 50th with a 7 cents per pack tax on cigarettes.
What difference does this make?
Studies, and experience in state after state, show that higher cigarette taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking among both youth and adults. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes will reduce youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent.
Every state that has significantly increased its cigarette tax has enjoyed substantial increases in revenue, even while reducing smoking. These funds have helped states balance budgets and fund essential services like health care, education and tobacco prevention programs. Contrary to tobacco industry arguments, cigarette tax increases are a reliable source of revenue for states.
I don�t smoke but it effects me everyday. In my wallet to pay for health care costs.� Smoking has touched my family because I�ve lost an uncle and a grandmother to smoking. And it concerns me because I have an 11 year-old daughter who will start middle-school next year in a South Carolina school system that 36% of high school students smoke.
I don�t care if this makes me a zealot in South Carolina. The truth about what tobacco is costing us is getting turned into no new tax chants every budget year while prevention programs are cut to zero funding. It�s about time some people get some guts in Columbia and stand up to the Tobacco Industry, tobacco is bankrupting lives.
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