Nevada Says Smoking Costs State $7.50 Per PackOctober 11, 2002
Research Summary
Nevada officials said that smoking is a major expense for the state, with $440 million spent each year on medical costs related to tobacco illnesses, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Oct. 9.According to the Nevada Health Division, every pack of cigarettes sold in the state costs the state and taxpayers $7.50 in healthcare, work losses, health insurance, and other social costs related to tobacco illnesses.
"Smoking is killing and costing us," Charlene Herst, the division's tobacco-control program manager, said before a Task Force for the Fund for a Healthy Nevada meeting.
Herst said that the state receives $61 million a year in cigarette taxes, but spends $96 million on Medicaid payments for treating low-income people with tobacco-related illnesses.
"We are hoping they will take a hard look at prevention," said Herst. "Smoking is a tax burden on all of us. If you prevent youth from smoking, you save on healthcare costs all through their years."
The task force recommended that the Nevada legislature increase the cigarette tax from 35 cents to $1 a pack.
The Health Division estimates that the higher tax would encourage 34,400 youngsters and 22,800 adults to stop smoking.
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