MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With Governor Tomblin’s signature, the state’s cigarette tax is increasing thanks to legislation passed in a special budget session this week.
The debate over how much lawmakers would be willing to increase it to bring in much needed revenue expanded over weeks.
“I know there was some positioning back and forth,” said WVU Health Science Center Vice President and Executive Dean Dr. Clay Marsh. “But, I’m really proud of our state for helping people to be healthier.”
A WVU Bureau of Research and Economic Research study, requested by the state legislature, found the tax increase would likely decrease cross-border and local sales. But, it won’t be so much that the state doesn’t reap several millions of dollars in increased revenue.
Marsh said the added 65 cent tax per pack of cigarettes will ultimately be a cost saver in health care expenses if it cuts the number of smokers in the state. It’s estimated 27 percent of residents are smokers.
“We spend over a billion dollars in health care on cigarette smoking related problems and we lose about 1.2 billion dollars worth of economic development work days because of that,” Marsh noted on MetroNews “Talkline” Thursday.
The tax is anticipated to generate 100 million dollars in revenue for the state. Marsh said some of that should make a difference in the ability to care for people with smoking related illnesses if it goes to help fund PEIA and Medicaid.
As a lung physician, Marsh is also hopeful customers who will be paying $1.20 in taxes per pack of cigarettes may be tempted to quit.
West Virginia leads the nation in its rate of smokers per capita.
“We also have the highest smoking rate in children, young adults under 18. We are almost twice the next state in the rate of pregnant women. And many pregnant women as I understand it start smoking during pregnancy which is really an opportunity for us to help them and their babies for the rest of the baby’s life,” Marsh explained.
According to Marsh, 173 million packs of cigarettes were sold in West Virginia last year. Of those, 35 million sales were made to people younger than 18.