By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
A new poll shows that nearly three of four registered Kentucky voters support a statewide excise tax on electronic cigarettes. Currently, e-cigarettes are subject only to sales taxes in Kentucky, while traditional cigarettes carry both a sales tax and excise tax.
Kentucky was about to pass a 15 percent excise tax on e-cigarettes during the last legislative session, but after a visit from Altria Group's chief lobbyist, leaders of the state Senate removed the tax from a bill that ultimately raised the state cigarette tax 50 cents a pack, to $1.10.
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. poll, taken on four days in mid-December, found that 73 percent of Kentucky voters supported a state excise tax on e-cigarettes, 21 percent opposed such a tax, and 6 percent were undecided.
Support for the tax was bipartisan, with 77 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents in supporting it.
"E-cigarette sales are accelerating globally, nationally, and in Kentucky, and given both our state budget situation and this overwhelming level of bipartisan support from voters, there's every fiscal and political reason to treat them the same way as other tobacco products," Ben Chandler, president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said in a news release.
The poll is timely, since teenagers' use of the vapor products has exploded and the next legislative session starts Tuesday, Jan. 8.
Federal research released in November showed a 78 percent increase in e-cigarette use among high-school students between 2017 and 2018, with the number of users surpassing 3 million. The same report showed use by middle schoolers increased 48 percent from the year before.
The problem is so widespread that the surgeon general has called teen use of e-cigs an epidemic, prompting him to release a rare national advisory stressing the importance of protecting children from the devices, which are setting them up for a lifetime of nicotine addiction and associated health risk.
"This explosive growth is erasing years of progress in reducing tobacco use among adolescents and teens and creating a whole new generation of Kentuckians who will have to deal with the expensive, debilitating and often deadly diseases tied to tobacco consumption," Chandler said. "The research shows that one of the most effective ways of reducing tobacco use - especially among youth, pregnant women and those living on low incomes - is raising the cost of the tobacco products."
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100 percent smoke-free policies, hard-hitting media campaigns, access to proven cessation products and tobacco price increases are proven strategies to decrease tobacco use.
The poll also found support for an excise tax was strong across the state, with the strongest support in the Bluegrass and Northern Kentucky (79 percent), followed by Western Kentucky (77 percent) and Louisville Metro (70 percent). Eastern Kentucky, the region that reported the highest use of e-cigarettes, 21 percent, had the lowest support for the tax: 64 percent.
Support was slightly higher among men than women, 76 percent and 70 percent, respectively. It was highest among older Kentuckians, with 79 percent of voters between 50 and 64 supporting the tax, followed by 76 percent of those 65 and older, and 75 percent of those between 35 and 49.
Only 56 percent of Kentucky voters between the ages of 18 and 34 supported an e-cigarette tax, no surprise since the poll also found that 41 percent of this group are vapers.
Vaping was reported by 13 percent of those 35-49, 12 percent of those 50-64; and 7 percent of those 65 and older. Overall, the poll found that 16 percent of Kentucky adults said they had tried e-cigarettes.
The poll surveyed a total of 625 registered Kentucky voters via both land-line and cell-phone numbers. The margin for error in any statewide figure is plus or minus 4 percentage points, and higher for the subgroups, like gender or party grouping.
Nine states and the District of Columbia have imposed an excise tax on e-cigarette sales, according to the news release.
Kentucky Health News
A new poll shows that nearly three of four registered Kentucky voters support a statewide excise tax on electronic cigarettes. Currently, e-cigarettes are subject only to sales taxes in Kentucky, while traditional cigarettes carry both a sales tax and excise tax.
Kentucky was about to pass a 15 percent excise tax on e-cigarettes during the last legislative session, but after a visit from Altria Group's chief lobbyist, leaders of the state Senate removed the tax from a bill that ultimately raised the state cigarette tax 50 cents a pack, to $1.10.
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, Inc. poll, taken on four days in mid-December, found that 73 percent of Kentucky voters supported a state excise tax on e-cigarettes, 21 percent opposed such a tax, and 6 percent were undecided.
"E-cigarette sales are accelerating globally, nationally, and in Kentucky, and given both our state budget situation and this overwhelming level of bipartisan support from voters, there's every fiscal and political reason to treat them the same way as other tobacco products," Ben Chandler, president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, said in a news release.
The poll is timely, since teenagers' use of the vapor products has exploded and the next legislative session starts Tuesday, Jan. 8.
Federal research released in November showed a 78 percent increase in e-cigarette use among high-school students between 2017 and 2018, with the number of users surpassing 3 million. The same report showed use by middle schoolers increased 48 percent from the year before.
The problem is so widespread that the surgeon general has called teen use of e-cigs an epidemic, prompting him to release a rare national advisory stressing the importance of protecting children from the devices, which are setting them up for a lifetime of nicotine addiction and associated health risk.
"This explosive growth is erasing years of progress in reducing tobacco use among adolescents and teens and creating a whole new generation of Kentuckians who will have to deal with the expensive, debilitating and often deadly diseases tied to tobacco consumption," Chandler said. "The research shows that one of the most effective ways of reducing tobacco use - especially among youth, pregnant women and those living on low incomes - is raising the cost of the tobacco products."
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 100 percent smoke-free policies, hard-hitting media campaigns, access to proven cessation products and tobacco price increases are proven strategies to decrease tobacco use.
Support was slightly higher among men than women, 76 percent and 70 percent, respectively. It was highest among older Kentuckians, with 79 percent of voters between 50 and 64 supporting the tax, followed by 76 percent of those 65 and older, and 75 percent of those between 35 and 49.
Only 56 percent of Kentucky voters between the ages of 18 and 34 supported an e-cigarette tax, no surprise since the poll also found that 41 percent of this group are vapers.
Vaping was reported by 13 percent of those 35-49, 12 percent of those 50-64; and 7 percent of those 65 and older. Overall, the poll found that 16 percent of Kentucky adults said they had tried e-cigarettes.
The poll surveyed a total of 625 registered Kentucky voters via both land-line and cell-phone numbers. The margin for error in any statewide figure is plus or minus 4 percentage points, and higher for the subgroups, like gender or party grouping.
Nine states and the District of Columbia have imposed an excise tax on e-cigarette sales, according to the news release.
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