TWO YEARS AGO, Maryland raised cigarette taxes by 30 cents a pack, and tobacco sales have since dropped 16 percent, the biggest decline in 20 years.
The higher tax - along with a 10-cent rise in the federal tax and a big price boost by cigarette makers - discouraged more people from getting hooked on the addictive weed.
So if it worked once, why not try it again?
Anti-smoking advocates want to get another cigarette tax increase approved at next year's General Assembly session.
This coincides with efforts by Gov. Parris N. Glendening to help tobacco farmers in Southern Maryland switch to other crops. There's also a concerted advertising campaign under way to convince teens that smoking can, indeed, be hazardous to your health.
The state health department estimates tobacco-caused death and disease cost us $1 billion in direct and indirect health expenses. Tobacco use is linked to one out of every five deaths in Maryland.
No wonder there's renewed interest in seeking an even steeper tax hike next year.
A 70-cent raise in the state's tobacco levy would yield over $200 million a year that officials could put to good use - perhaps in health-care programs.
Meanwhile, the added expense for a pack of cigarettes might deter teens from even starting this nasty habit.
Supporters of this proposal know the odds are against them in next year's legislature. The tobacco lobby remains potent. But bringing this issue into the bright light of public discussion could make it a hot topic of debate when the statewide election campaigns commence next summer.
Where will the candidates for governor come down on this one? Will challengers to General Assembly incumbents try to jump on the anti-smoking bandwagon to win points with voters?
That could set the stage for a warmer State House reception for a tobacco-tax increase in 2003.
If rising prices are an effective deterrent to cigarette consumption, let's keep the tax increases coming.
