Kentucky tax on chewing tobacco to drop

[Bill Godshall]

Kentucky tax on chewing tobacco to drop (per enactment of HB 361)
http://www.courier-journal.com/arti.../306080103/Kentucky-tax-chewing-tobacco-drop?
13RS HB361


CTFK's Amy Barkley doesn't even know that virtually no youth use chewing tobacco (as nearly all smokeless tobacco users under 40 use moist snuff).

Looks like CTFK's Barkley (and the KY ACS, AHA, ALA) were so busy helping Ellen Hahn lobby for Rep. Sue Westrom's doomed legislation to ban e-cigarette use (and smoking) in workplaces, they forgot to read HB 361.

“When Kentucky consistently has the highest rates of tobacco use among kids and adults, and at a time when the state needs new sources of revenue, it does not make sense to lower taxes on tobacco products,” said Amy Barkley, of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “... It’s disappointing to see the legislature potentially making spit tobacco more affordable for kids.”

Barkley said she and other health advocates — who had lobbied unsuccessfully at the same time for a statewide smoking ban bill — never fully understood Rand’s bill.

“It was presented as a technical change that had more to do with the way taxes were collected,” she said.

Barkley said she hopes the tax cut’s impact on public health will be minimal.

“But any tax cut that makes tobacco products cheaper can make them more accessible to kids because it generally results in a decrease in the retail price,” she said. “Kids are a lot more price-sensitive than adults.”

 

[Placebo Effect]

I remember tracking this bill, as well as a bill that would've raised the OTP tax (that never got a committee hearing). I was surprised that I hadn't heard anything about it.

 

[Bill Godshall]

I was surprised that I hadn't heard anything about it.

Had there been any news stories about the bill (before it was enacted), the bill would probably have been opposed/defeated by the anti tobacco groups.

Chewing tobacco consumption has declined every year since 1900, and now accounts for only about 15% of the smokeless tobacco market share. Its used primarily by rural old white guys. But of course, the extremists at CTFK cannot say the word "tobacco" unless the word "kids" is in the same sentence.

While 99% of tobacco products are consumed by adults, CTFK has been deceiving the public to believe that kids consume most tobacco.