Large Cigarette Tax Increases May Reduce Smoking But Also Lead To Bootlegging
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The public health goal of reducing tobacco use by raising cigarette taxes may be undermined in disadvantaged minority communities by illegal cigarette sales.
Members of 14 focus groups in Central Harlem, N.Y., told researchers that a large cigarette tax increase in New York City led to “a pervasive illegal cigarette market in a low-income minority community.” In an area where smoking rates were already likely to be higher than in the general population, even those motivated to quit were lured by bootleggers selling low-price cigarettes.
“Although interest in quitting was high among the smokers we interviewed, bootleggers created an environment in which discounted cigarettes were easier to access than cessation services,” said the study’s authors. “Illegal cigarette sales continue to undermine the public health goals of the tax increase.”
The study found that acceptance of smoking in the community, a stressful social and economic environment and the availability of discounted cigarettes worked together to reinforce smoking and undermine efforts to quit.
“The $5 Man: The Underground Economic Response to a Large Cigarette Tax Increase in New York City.”
Donna Shelley, MD, MPH, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York.
Rising obesity rates not tied to drop in cigarette smoking
Many people may use a fear of weight gain as a reason not to stop smoking, but a recent study found the nation’s rising obesity rates are not tied to decreasing rates of cigarette smoking.
Researchers combined current weight data by smoking status from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with smoking status from past surveys to estimate the potential impact of changes in smoking prevalence on the prevalence of obesity and healthy weight. Within all gender-age groups, smokers had a lower probability of obesity than did nonsmokers, sometimes considerably lower. Despite this, the study indicated that decreases in the prevalence of cigarette smoking probably had only a small effect, often less than one percentage point, on increasing the prevalence of obesity and decreasing the prevalence of healthy weight in the population. The study also hypothesized that even if smoking were completely eliminated in the United States, the obesity rate would rise only slightly from 31.8 percent to 33.5 percent.
“Effects of Changes in Smoking Prevalence on Obesity Prevalence in the United States.”
Katherine M. Flegal, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Md.
The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly journal of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the oldest organization of public health professionals in the world. APHA is a leading publisher of books and periodicals promoting sound scientific standards, action programs and public policy to enhance health.