Tax Increase May Get Smokers To Quit

The federal tax on cigarettes is going up 62 cents on April 1. Public health experts told Reuters Health news service that the increase may lead to 1 million smokers quitting. The additional tax money will go to a government health insurance program for children who don’t have insurance. Raising cigarette prices has been shown to increase quit rate among adult smokers and prevent children and young adults from starting to smoke. Smoking kills about 440,000 Americans every year, according to the CDC. Reuters Health News Service wrote about the increase on March 15.