More expensive cigarette taxes equate to fewer smokers

I mentioned in last Friday's Southern Discourse that Louisiana legislators should think about raising taxes on cigarettes. Considering how much the topic has been in the news lately, the subject deserves more than a cursory examination.
According to a 2010 study by the National Council of State Legislators, Louisiana's 36-cent excise tax on cigarettes is the third-lowest in the country, right above Virginia at 30 cents and Missouri at 17 cents.

In 2009, the House Health and Welfare Committee dismissed a proposed $1 tax addition to the current 36-cent tax, which would have created a new state tax of $1.36 per pack and brought the price of a pack of smokes closer to the national average.
Currently working its way through the Legislature, House Bill 437 basically proposes the same thing: an extra dollar per pack, which would go to fund other state programs.
Hopefully, this one will actually make it through.

At $1.36, Louisiana's cigarette tax would still be below the national average of $1.45.
Still, that's one step closer to being on par with the rest of the country.
The American Lung Association rates Louisiana an "F" in taxes, cessation and tobacco prevention control and spending.
In terms of air quality, Louisiana receives a "B," mainly because of laws prohibiting smoking in certain areas. But if you've ever walked by Middleton Library around lunch, you know some places are worse than others.

While the bill sounds promising, Jindal has already stated that the council has absolutely no plans to increase the cigarette tax. He vowed to veto it if the bill ever reached his desk.
As the former secretary of the Department of Louisiana Health and Hospitals, one would imagine Jindal to be more concerned with state health matters. But despite statistical evidence to the benefits of the proposal, Jindal remains notoriously tax shy.
According to Louisiana Progress, "approximately 23.5 percent of Louisianans smoke, the 11th- highest smoking rate in the nation. Louisianans spend $1.4 billion per year in smoking-related medical costs, while the State spends $663 million per year on smoking-related Medicaid costs."
As basically the next best thing to taking cigarettes off the market, the tax on cigarettes would act as a deterrent for potential smokers while spurring current smokers to quit.
According to a study by the Surgeon General, youth, minorities and low-income smokers are two to three times more likely to quit or smoke less than other smokers in response to price increases.
Of course, detractors claim cigarette taxes aren't a long-term solution because they discourage the very thing that brings in the money.