Federal cigarette tax increase will hit the poor hardest..

March 1, 2009 - The 62-cent hike in the federal cigarette tax going into effect April 1 stands to make a significant dent in the wallets of smokers in Hickory, Morganton and Lenoir areas of North Carolina. This area according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey from 2007 is ranked 10th in the U.S. in adult smoking.

Doug Gantt's customers at Smoker Haven on Springs Road in Hickory is telling Gantt that he's going to have to quit, or at least switch to a cheaper brand. Gantt is concerned about what the increase will do to his business. Another patron thinks smoking is most widespread among poor people and said he can't understand why that is the easiest population to tax.

Top 10 metro areas in the U.S. with highest percentages of adult smokers ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey from 2007 )

1. Huntington-Ashland, W.Va./Ky./Ohio (34 percent)

2. Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn./Va. (31 percent)

3. Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (29 percent)

4. Greensboro-High Point, N.C. (28 percent)

5. Mobile, Ala. (27 percent)

6. Casper, Wyo. (27 percent)

7. Wilmington, N.C. (27 percent)

8. Chattanooga, Tenn. (27 percent)

9. Tulsa, Okla. (26 percent)

10. Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir (26 percent)

Reference: Cigarette tax will hit the poor hard by Ragan Robinson, Hickory Daily Record, 2/28/2009; Region's smokers put it on the map by Ragan Robinson, Hickory Daily Record, 2/28/2009.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates that the increase in the federal tobacco tax will result in numerous public health benefits, including increasing the total number of kids alive today who will not become smokers by 1,992,000 and increasing the number of current adult smokers in the U.S. who will quit by 1,020,000. (SCHIP Expansion Financed With a 62-Cent Increase in the Federal Cigarette Tax, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2/5/2009)

Cigarette Tax Will Affect Low-Income Americans Most
More than half of smokers earn less than $36,000 per year by Lydia Saad, GALLUP, 4/1/2009.

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