Experts: Tax revenue going up in smoke; buyers crossing state lines
Ulrik Boesen, a senior analyst at the Tax Foundation, says the state’s ban on flavored vape products in 2019, along with menthol cigarettes this past June, has caused a drop in state revenue, but not a drop in smoking
Massachusetts collected about $550 million in cigarette excisetax revenue during fiscal 2019, Boesen said. Even with the 75% excise tax placed on electronic cigarette sales, lawmakers predict a loss of $93 million of revenue in fiscal 2021 due to the ban on flavored tobacco.
“If all those people had outright quit, I’d assume lawmakers would take that as a win,” Boesen said. In reality, what has happened, according to Boesen, is that consumers are heading across state borders to make their tobacco .purchases. He provided statistics showing there has been a 17% decrease in sales in Massachusetts in June 2020, compared to the previous year. However, during that same time, he says in Rhode Island and New Hampshire sales have increased by 56%, in Maine by 31%, in Vermont by 21%, and by 17% in New York.
“Those are some significant increases that all the neighboring states saw, simply because Massachusetts banned a popular product,” Boesen said, adding that means lawmakers “did not achieve their public-health goals, which was to get fewer people to smoke. All they achieved was sending consumers across state borders to purchase their cigarettes.”
Boesen made the point during an editorial board meeting, hosted by Boston Herald columnist Michael Graham, of InsideSources.
The virtual meeting also included input from Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of community health sciences at Boston University — described as an expert
‘We know youth are going to use tobacco. Youth are capable of becoming addicted to non-flavored products. Just taking those flavored products off the market isn’t going to stop kids from using them. They are going to find alternatives.’ – Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of community health sciences at Boston University
in public health research.
The crux of the board discussion stemmed from a recent 10-1 vote by the San Francisco board of supervisors to prohibit vaping and smoking of traditional cigarettes inside apartments, the goal being to curb the negative health impacts of secondhand smoke.
Siegel was critical of the proposed ban in San Francisco, suggesting that banning vaping indoors does the opposite of what it should be doing, which is risk reduction and improving public health.
“Public health is an evidence-based discipline,” Siegel said. “Before we take public health action, we have to have reasonably solid evidence to support our actions.
“This is an example where this principle is being violated,” he added about the ban in San Francisco. “There is no scientific evidence that secondhand vaping has any adverse impact.”
Siegel noted that if the ban in San Francisco passes, it will have a negative impact on smoking cessation rates for those attempting to quit through the use of electronic cigarettes.
Siegel described electronic devices as an effective mechanism to help smokers quit, citing a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
According to Siegel, the study found e-cigarettes to be a more effective alternative to smoking over nicotine replacement therapies, including nicotine gum and patches.
“What this ordinance does is makes it almost impossible for smokers to legally use this method of quitting,” Siegel said. “What it is essentially doing is telling smokers, ‘If you smoke, we have nothing for you.'”
Siegel added that the secondhand aerosol from e-cigarettes is much less harmful than secondhand smoke from traditional cigarettes.
“To the best of our knowledge, every single case of e-cigarette-associated lung injury was not caused by e-cigarettes, but caused by THC vaping products,” Siegel said. “There’s absolutely no evidence that any nicotinecontaining product played any role.”
San Francisco has already banned the sale of electronic cigarettes, which doesn’t add up, said Siegel, pointing out that traditional cigarettes are still readily available to the public.
As a result, the vaping ban pushes people toward the more harmful products.
“You can go to any convenience store in San Francisco and buy a Marlboro and Camel, no questions asked, but if you want an electronic cigarette to try to quit smoking, you can’t buy one in San Francisco,” Siegel said.
During the virtual meeting, a question posed to the board pointed to the notion that Massachusetts lawmakers banned flavored tobaccos as it appeals to youth.
“We know youth are going to use tobacco,” Siegel replied. “Youth are capable of becoming addicted to non-flavored products. Just taking those flavored products off the market isn’t going to stop kids from using them. They are going to find alternatives.”