Cancer Society Supports a Higher Tax on Cigarettes Sold in Illinois to Help People Quit Smoking

by Frederick H. Lowe
The Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society says it supports Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's proposal to raise the state’s cigarette sales tax because the higher price would reduce the number of smokers based on history.

“Most people who smoke want to quit, and the tax increase is one more incentive for them to stop,” said Heather Eagleton, director of Public Policy and Government Relations at the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society.

Lung and bronchus cancer, which is caused primarily by cigarette smoking, is the leading cause of cancer deaths among black men and black women nationwide, according to the American Cancer Society.

Gov. Quinn announced on April 19 that he wants to raise the cigarette tax $1 per pack to prevent the state's Medicaid system, from collapse.  The higher tax would bring in an additional $337.5 million in revenues.

The Illinois cigarette tax currently is 98 cents per pack, according to the cancer society. Illinois smokers pay $9.67 for a pack of cigarettes, Eagleton said.

“We have been working on a $1 cigarette-tax increase for more than three years,” she said last week during a Minority Cancer Week conference at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Although the tax increase could pass the Democratic-controlled Illinois Senate, Eagleton said, Tom Cross, the Republican House Minority Leader, is opposed to any tax increase to solve the Medicaid crisis. Mike Madigan, the Democratic leader and speaker of the House of Representatives, said he wants bi-partisan support for the increase.

“Taxes are not popular, but we see this as a health issue,” Eagleton said. ”By increasing Illinois's cigarette tax, we can save lives and generate much-needed revenue.” Smoking-related diseases cost Medicaid $1.5 billion annually, she said.

Raising the tax on cigarettes often is more effective than anti-smoking television commercials, according to the cancer society.

“The general consensus is that every 10 percent increase in the real price of cigarettes reduces overall cigarette consumption three to five percent among adults,” reports the cancer society. “Research studies have found that tax increases are very effective in reducing smoking among men, blacks, Hispanics and lower-income smokers."

Currently, 16.9 percent of Illinois adults smoke, and 18.1 percent of high school students are smokers, according to the cancer society.

Although the Illinois Division does not have figures regarding the number of African-American smokers in Illinois, 20.6 percent of African Americans nationwide smoke, which is slightly higher than the overall national smoking rate of 19.3 percent.

Each year, 45,000 African Americans die from smoking-related diseases, a figure that is more than other causes of death, including AIDS, homicide, diabetes and accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The American Cancer Society's Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2009-2010, reported that an estimated 9,820 black men died from lung and bronchus cancer in 2009. Among black women, lung and bronchus cancer claimed the lives of 7,080 that same year.