Anti-Smoking Groups Applaud Huntsman's Cigarette Tax Proposal, Smokers Wary

Jan 07, 2009 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Anti-smoking advocates are applauding Governor Jon Huntsman's push to increase the state's cigarette tax to $3 per pack, which would make it the highest in the nation. Michael Siler of the American Cancer Society's Utah Chapter says such an increase won't discourage everyone from lighting up. But he estimates that 30,000 Utahns would quit immediately.

"Quite honestly and unfortunately, we don't think that it will make most people quit across time. But what it will do is it will make, first of all, that first group of people quit, which will improve their health, which will improve the health of their families, but will also reduce their cost to society right now," Siler says.

The American Cancer Society estimates Utah has about 225,000 smokers, including almost 20,000 minors. Siler says these smokers are a financial burden on the state because of their increased health problems and lost productivity. The governor estimates the tax could generate up to $150 million annually. But critics say many will evade the tax by buying cigarettes online or crossing the border to buy them in neighboring states or tribal reservations.

The majority of customers at the Smoker Friendly store in the border town of Evanston, Wyoming, are already from Utah. Store clerk Annell Fearn says the cigarette tax would be good for business, but the former Utahn says it's wrong to target smokers like herself.

"I really have a lot of respect for Jon Huntsman, I really do. He's done wonders for your state, he really has. But, this is going too far," Fearn says. "And, they're going to afford it. People are going to afford these things. They really are. And you know, that's going to take food from their children. It's going to take your commerce. Sorry, it's going to."

Huntsman's proposal would boost the tax to more than four times its current rate of 69.5 cents per pack. The increase would help offset lost revenue from another executive branch proposal: removing the sales tax on food.

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