Tobacco Tax

As Gov.Martin O'Malleysigns into law the revenue measure passed during the recent special session, most of the attention will be on the income tax changes in the bill. Also in the new law will be an historic and life-saving increase in our state's tax on little cigars and smokeless tobacco. Thanks to several increases in our cigarette tax over the past decade, we have dramatically reduced cigarette smoking in Maryland, especially among teens, saving tens of thousands of lives. But, because we did not increase the tax on little cigars and smokeless tobacco during this time, youth use of some of these deadly products actually increased, according to a study done by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

As Gov.Martin O'Malleysigns into law the revenue measure passed during the recent special session, most of the attention will be on the income tax changes in the bill. Also in the new law will be an historic and life-saving increase in our state's tax on little cigars and smokeless tobacco. Thanks to several increases in our cigarette tax over the past decade, we have dramatically reduced cigarette smoking in Maryland, especially among teens, saving tens of thousands of lives. But, because we did not increase the tax on little cigars and smokeless tobacco during this time, youth use of some of these deadly products actually increased, according to a study done by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Over the past decade, Maryland has gradually raised its tax on cigarettes to the current $2 per pack, and the results have been striking. Fewer people smoke cigarettes today than before the tax was implemented, and that's particularly true among high school students. Yet even as lawmakers acted boldly to reduce cigarette use, they foolishly left alone other forms of tobacco, chiefly snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars. So while cigarettes and what's known as "OTP" or Other Tobacco Products were taxed at comparable levels in 1999 (36 cents per pack for cigarettes and 15 percent of wholesale prices for OTP)

A special session of the legislature is definitely needed to prevent the disastrous "doomsday budget" from taking effect - but it is also needed to enact the life-saving tobacco tax increase, which like the proposed income tax increase failed to gain final General Assembly approval by midnight on April 9. The House and Senate revenue conferees had agreed that the tax on little cigars should be increased from its very low present rate of 15 percent...

In Wednesday's column disparaging Maryland's life-saving 2007 tobacco tax increase ("Did cigarette tax increase do more harm than good?" March 17), Marc Kilmer neglects to mention that this increase, along with other policies such as Maryland's smoke free workplace law also encated in 2007, have combined to make Maryland's smoking rate the fourth lowest in the nation, saving thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars that would have been...

It was an important victory for public health in Maryland when the General Assembly's Republican leadership chose not to propose rolling back our 2007 advances as part of their deficit reduction plan (" GOP lawmakers propose cuts to Md. budget in joint hearing," Feb. 24). During Tuesday's unveiling of their plan, Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the House minority leader, said that they did not seek to repeal the dollar per pack cigarette tax increase enacted during the 2007 special legislative session when they called for repealing all of the tax increases that were enacted at the time.

After successfully pushing a new dime-a-drink alcohol tax, health care advocates are advocating for a new $1 levy on tobacco. That would bring the total to $3 for a pack of cigarettes, among the highest in the nation. A coalition led by the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative says the tax increase would further deter smoking. "To demonstrate how effective tobacco taxes are, smoking rates have declined by 32.6 percent between 1998 and 2009, saving 70,000 people from preventable tobacco-related death," Vincent DeMarco, the group's president, said during a news conference Tuesday announcing the campaign.

WASHINGTON -- When White House officials began floating ideas for health care reform last year, one trial balloon had no trouble staying aloft: a 75-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes that would raise $11 billion a year. Catching the growing anti-tobacco mood of the country perfectly, the Clinton administration's proposal was seen as an easy way to raise money, discourage an unhealthy habit and offend relatively few voters."There is a changing public attitude toward smoking. It's no longer seen as just a personal decision but a real health problem for all of society," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Baltimore Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee who recently voted for a $1.25-a-pack increase in the federal tobacco tax.But Congress' near-unanimity that tobacco must be taxed more -- and taxed hard -- raises some troubling questions.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE is overwhelming that cigarette smoking is detrimental to your health. Seven thousand six hundred Marylanders will die this year because of their smoking habits. Taxpayers will pay $123 million in Medicaid costs in Maryland to provide medical treatment for those with tobacco-related illnesses. The total annual health-care bill for smoking-related illnesses in Maryland is $4 billion.Smoking is by far Maryland's No. 1 killer. Smokers are five times more likely to turn into binge drinkers and 15 times more likely to turn to marijuana.

LANDOVER -- Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he wants to double the state's cigarette tax to $2 a pack, with the goals of tackling the state's looming budget deficit and providing a "down payment" on a broader expansion of health care coverage. "Our hope is to use the proceeds first for debt relief, but then to bridge us to a more rational, compassionate and common sense system that allows us to give people the coverage up-front so they're not suffering more and costing us more," O'Malley told elderly residents at an assisted living center, where he also outlined tax breaks for seniors and low-income families.

 Most states, including Maryland, are not doing enough to protect the public from tobacco or prevent related disease, according to the latest assessment from the American Lung Association due out today. In its 10 th annual State of Tobacco Control Report Card , the group gave praise to the Obama administration for offering treatments to federal employees, putting graphic pictures on cigarettes packs and advertising its 1-800-QUIT-NOW line. But the group said the tobacco companies are taking advantage of the states' lax policies by spending billions to market cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.

Over the past decade, Maryland has gradually raised its tax on cigarettes to the current $2 per pack, and the results have been striking. Fewer people smoke cigarettes today than before the tax was implemented, and that's particularly true among high school students. Yet even as lawmakers acted boldly to reduce cigarette use, they foolishly left alone other forms of tobacco, chiefly snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars. So while cigarettes and what's known as "OTP" or Other Tobacco Products were taxed at comparable levels in 1999 (36 cents per pack for cigarettes and 15 percent of wholesale prices for OTP)

In a recent Baltimore Sun article about our proposed tax increase for cigars and smokeless tobacco designed to reduce teen use of these products ("Group pushing tobacco tax says it's a popular idea," Dec. 20), Bill Spann of the cigar industry makes the irrelevant point that teenagers don't smoke expensive cigars. The fact is that according to a study recently released by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 14 percent of children now smoke the kind of inexpensive cigars that the cigar industry has been marketing with kid friendly flavors.

After successfully pushing a new dime-a-drink alcohol tax, health care advocates are advocating for a new $1 levy on tobacco. That would bring the total to $3 for a pack of cigarettes, among the highest in the nation. A coalition led by the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative says the tax increase would further deter smoking. "To demonstrate how effective tobacco taxes are, smoking rates have declined by 32.6 percent between 1998 and 2009, saving 70,000 people from preventable tobacco-related death," Vincent DeMarco, the group's president, said during a news conference Tuesday announcing the campaign.

With the gubernatorial election over, the campaign rhetoric has quieted, but the problem of Maryland's billion-plus budget shortfall remains — and with it, the discussion of higher taxes. Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Republican leaders in the General Assembly warned that the re-election of Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Democrats would mean tax increases. Indeed, O'Malley refused to join Ehrlich in a campaign pledge against raising taxes. After defeating Ehrlich last week, O'Malley said the budget he proposes in January will not contain tax increases.

In his Commentary disparaging both Maryland's life-saving one dollar per pack tobacco tax increase enacted in 2008 and our proposed dime a drink alcohol tax increase ("Alcohol tax: Haven't we been here before?" Aug. 13), Mark Kilmer left out some very important facts. Most importantly, he omitted the fact that the tobacco tax increase resulted in 74 million fewer packs of cigarettes being sold in our state, which helped to give Maryland the sixth lowest smoking rate in the country. This saves tens of thousands of lives from preventable tobacco caused illness and death, and saves us all billions of dollars in health care costs.

The Maryland House of Delegates approved a plan yesterday to extend medical coverage to more than 100,000 residents, but the measure faces strong opposition in the Senate, where legislative leaders oppose funding health care through a $1 increase in the tobacco tax. The House vote of 102-37, largely along party lines in the Democratic-controlled chamber, could mark an end to months of work on the bill, which backers said is a first step toward universal coverage....

When April sweetens the air in Annapolis, legislators usually turn eager to endorse the proposals of Maryland's powerful governors. But this year, the power of the state's chief executive was very nearly blunted by a team of Republicans and independent Democrats who wondered how they could explain a $150 million tax increase to tax-weary constituents. In the end, they gave Gov. Parris N. Glendening his tobacco tax -- though it was cut by almost three-fourths to 30 cents a pack.

In Wednesday's column disparaging Maryland's life-saving 2007 tobacco tax increase ("Did cigarette tax increase do more harm than good?" March 17), Marc Kilmer neglects to mention that this increase, along with other policies such as Maryland's smoke free workplace law also encated in 2007, have combined to make Maryland's smoking rate the fourth lowest in the nation, saving thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars that would have been...

It was an important victory for public health in Maryland when the General Assembly's Republican leadership chose not to propose rolling back our 2007 advances as part of their deficit reduction plan (" GOP lawmakers propose cuts to Md. budget in joint hearing," Feb. 24). During Tuesday's unveiling of their plan, Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the House minority leader, said that they did not seek to repeal the dollar per pack cigarette tax increase enacted during the 2007 special legislative session when they called for repealing all of the tax increases that were enacted at the time.