A $1 increase in Nebraska’s cigarette tax would prevent approximately 11,000 youth from smoking and, over five years, save an estimated $3.62 million in lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke costs, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Increasing cigarette excise taxes has been proven to reduce the number of people who smoke and might smoke. 

Research shows that every 10 percent increase in the price of tobacco reduces youth smoking rates by 6.5 percent and overall cigarette consumption by 4 percent.

Cigarette taxes are also a powerful economic tool, directly producing sustained increases in state revenues and resulting in large savings in health care costs. According to ACS CAN, if every state nationwide increased its tobacco tax by $1:

• Nearly 1.4 million adults would quit smoking.

• Nearly 1.7 million youth would never start smoking.

• 1.3 million people could be saved from smoking-related deaths.

• State economies would raise $25.7 billion in tax revenue (a 54 percent increase over current revenue) and, over five years, save more than $645 million in health treatment costs.

During the past 10 years, 47 states and the District of Columbia have raised their cigarette taxes in more than 100 separate instances, according to ACS CAN. The current average state tobacco tax is $1.45, with 21 states still having taxes at less than $1 per pack. New York has the highest cigarette tax at $4.35 per pack and Missouri has the lowest cigarette tax at 17 cents per pack. No state comes close to matching the health and economic costs attributed to smoking, which are estimated at $10.28 per pack. 

Are you interested in knowing more? A full tobacco tax report, a summary of the tobacco tax report and the health and economics benefits of raising the cigarette tax in Nebraska (seen below) are available for download from ACS CAN.