The South Carolina State Senate can play a pivotal role in improving critical health concerns by passing legislation to increase our state’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax to at least a dollar a pack. Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of premature death in this state. It costs each household in South Carolina an estimated $560 annually for smoking-caused government expenditures, regardless of whether a household member smokes.
We all know the healthcare costs from smoking are enormous, in tax dollars and medical costs. Often overlooked is the personal cost of lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease to those stricken and to their families, friends and co-workers. Almost everyone has had that experience.
HB 3584, legislation to increase our seven-cent cigarette tax, was sent to the Senate nearly a year ago. Our state is contemplating deep budget cuts with severe consequences that will affect many of our citizens. Increasing the cigarette tax will reduce overall smoking (and youth initiation to smoking) while raising state revenues at the same time. Bringing HB 3584 to a vote in the Senate cannot come soon enough.
A significant cigarette tax increase is a win-win-win solution for South Carolina. It is a public health win that will reduce smoking and save lives, a fiscal win that will raise needed revenue and reduce smoking-caused health care costs, and a political win because raising cigarette taxes have the strong support of the public.
How many reasons do we need?
(Editor’s note: The writer is the director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in South Carolina and Georgia.)
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