Cigarette tax hike vote hailed as a victory against cancer

By Globe Staff

Anti-smoking activists are hailing a $175 million cigarette tax increase passed last night by the Massachusetts House. They say it could save thousands of lives.

"Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in Massachusetts and the data is irrefutable: increasing the price of tobacco products decreases tobacco use, particularly among young people," Marc Hymovitz, director of government relations for the American Cancer Society, said in a statement.

The society also applauded the dedication of the revenues to pay for healthcare costs, which have soared under the state's new healthcare reform law, saying the House had struck "successive blows against cancer in the Commonwealth."

The cigarette tax increases were part of a $392 million package that passed by a lopsided margin.

Under the bill, the tax would increase by $1 per pack, to $2.51. The average price of a pack would go up nearly 20 percent, to $6.41.

Russet Breslau, executive director of Tobacco Free Mass, an umbrella anti-smoking group with 50 organizations as members, also welcomed passage of the bill. She said her organization believed the hike would prevent about 46,000 children from starting to smoke.

She also said it would inspire about 26,000 current smokers to stop and save the lives of 7,000 current smokers.

Opponents of the hike argued that the state would lose money from smokers, who would travel to New Hampshire and Rhode Island to buy cigarettes.

The Senate has been supportive of the tax increases pushed by Governor Deval Patrick and plans to take up the proposals within weeks. If there are no significant differences, the governor could have a bill on his desk shortly afterward.

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