Jump to full article: Wicked Local (MA), 2009-03-25
Author: Michael Norton / State House News Service
Intro: The anti-tobacco lobby arrives on cash-starved Beacon Hill Wednesday with what activists believe is a policy and revenue jackpot.
Tobacco Free Massachusetts says last year's $1 increase in the state cigarette tax to $2.51 per pack sent more cost-conscious residents, including teens, to less expensive "other tobacco products" like small cigars, chewing tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco, which were not hit with higher taxes.
But new poll results from Tobacco Free Massachusetts show 81 percent of likely Massachusetts voters, including 73 percent of Republicans, support taxing such products at the same rate as cigarettes. And 62 percent would be more likely to vote for a legislative candidate who supports taxing other tobacco products at the cigarette tax rate.
Anti-tobacco activists are pitching the tax hike, which already has 30 legislative sponsors, as a powerful public health tool, politically popular and a potential source of between $10 million and $15 million in new revenues.
"It's a slam dunk," said pollster Jeffrey Plaut, a partner at the New York-based Global Strategy Group. "There are few issues that generate this level of public enthusiasm."
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