NYS Cigarette Tax Highest In the Nation Following $1 Hike on September 1

Following a $1 hike that started on September 1, New York State’s cigarette tax is now the highest in the nation.

The $1 hike is the first cigarette tax increase since 2010 and changes the tax from $4.35 to $5.35 per pack of 20 cigarettes. Research shows a 10% increase in tobacco prices would be expected to decrease tobacco consumption by 4% .

The latest data from the NYS Department of Health show that one in five high school-age youth uses tobacco products.  New York State spends approximately $9.7 billion annually on preventable smoking-related health care costs and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network projects the impact of the higher tax will save 15,300 New Yorkers’ lives and prevent 14,400 youth under age 18 from becoming adults who smoke. The Lung Association‘s State of Tobacco Control report shows there are 28,170 smoking attributable deaths every year in New York.

The tax hike follows a range of new tobacco polices implemented by the State over the past few years. In 2019, New York raised the minimum legal sale age to purchase tobacco and vapor products to 21, established a 20% tax on vaping products, and required registration for vapor product retailers to regulate the sale of these products to restrict access, especially among young people. Those policies were followed in 2020 by several strategies that restrict youth access to tobacco and vaping products.

Among other things, new state laws ended the sale of tobacco and vapor products in pharmacies, banned the sale of flavored vapor products, ended price discounts on tobacco products, and stopped the shipment and delivery of vapor products to private residences.