High school students from across Ohio met with state legislators March 11 to share the negative impacts they experience from tobacco products in their homes, schools and communities. Gathering at the Statehouse for Ohio Youth Advocacy Day, youth ambassadors voiced their support for Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal to increase Ohio’s cigarette tax along with taxes on all tobacco products. Image taken from video testimony provided on behalf of the Prevention Action Alliance and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
High school students from across Ohio met with state legislators March 11 to share the negative impacts they experience from tobacco products in their homes, schools and communities. Gathering at the Statehouse for Ohio Youth Advocacy Day, youth ambassadors voiced their support for Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal to increase Ohio’s cigarette tax along with taxes on all tobacco products.
“Sadly, I’ve lost friends because they become too obsessed with how to get their next puff. My school had to close the student restrooms because of how many kids went in to smoke. I see vapes getting bought and traded at school,” said Pickaway County high school senior Marianna Packer. “Most kids have limited funds, so raising the prices of cigarettes and vapes is a smart and proven way to keep us from buying them in the first place.”
The tobacco industry has historically targeted children — and continues to do so — through marketing, product development, and sales locations to addict customers to nicotine at a young age. Nearly 19% of Ohio high schoolers are current e-cigarette users, and nearly 90% of youth e-cigarette users in the U.S. report using a flavored product.
The governor has proposed increases in the taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products to fund a child tax credit. Decades of evidence shows that increasing tobacco product prices is one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use, especially among kids.
A $1.50 per pack cigarette tax increase, as proposed by Gov. DeWine, will improve health in Ohio and benefit employers and the workforce, including:
– Preventing 11,800 Ohio kids from becoming smokers.
– Helping 43,900 current adult smokers to quit.
– Saving 14,200 Ohioans from premature, smoking-caused deaths.
– Saving $714.8 million in future healthcare costs for constituents and businesses.
In addition, these actions will also help to reduce smoking among Medicaid recipients, saving lives and money. State data show the smoking rate is nearly 40% for Ohio Medicaid enrollees
— more than double the smoking rate for all adults in Ohio (15%). According to the CDC, more than 20,000 Ohioans die from tobacco use each year. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio ranks Ohio 44th in the nation for overall health in part due to the state’s high tobacco use.
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