Maryland bill (HB 443) would increase tax on cigarettes (to $3/pack), smokeless tobacco (to $3/can) & cigars, but no tax on e-cigs

[Bill Godshall]

Maryland bills (HB 443 & SB 589) would increase cigarette tax from $2/pack to $3/pack, increase tax on smokeless tobacco to $3/can, increase taxes on OTP, but wouldn't tax e-cigs (yet)

Since these bills are identical, and since both bills have a lot of cosponsors, I anticipate that the MD ANTZ (and the MD Health Dept) have been and will continue aggressively lobbying for enactment of these bills.

HB 443 was referred to House Ways and Means Cmte & House Health and Government Operations Cmte
GAM-HB0443 Summary 2014 Regular Session
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2014RS/bills/hb/hb0443F.pdf

SB 589 was referred to the Senate Budget and Taxation Cmte and Finance Cmte.
GAM-SB0589 Summary 2014 Regular Session
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2014rs/bills_noln/sb/fsb0589.pdf

The best way for MD vapers to prevent this bill from being amended to also tax e-cigs is to oppose these bills' huge increase in the smokeless tobacco tax rate (since smokeless tobacco is far less hazardous than cigarettes, and since virtually all smokeless tobacco users in Maryland live within 15 miles of PA, WV, VA or DE, all of which have much lower smokeless tobacco tax rates (except PA which has no tax on smokeless).

 

[rothenbj]

Three dollars a can for smokeless tobacco is absurd. It's just a further money grab that discourages people to quit smoking.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Due to geography, smokeless tobacco has become a very politically partisan issue.

Liberal Democrat legislators who live in cities and metropolitan suburbs (where smokeless tobacco consumption is almost nonexistant) are
always eager to increase taxes on smokeless tobacco (because very few of their constituents use the products) and appropriate the new tax revenue for programs to benefit their constituents (not the rural Republican districts where the smokeless tobacco userslive).

 

[Bill Godshall]

Am bumping up because I edited the initial post to include SB 589 (which is identical to HB 443).

 

[dordas23]

This is pathetic. When I was a smoker, I almost always went to VA or DE to buy cigs. This tax will only hurt the poor people in Balt/Annapolis area who find it harder to get out of state.

 

[klynnn]

Do you really think politicians in any state care about the people? I gave up on them long ago. Vote them out. Teach these people a lesson they won't forget.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Please note that the Maryland House Ways and Means Cmte will hold a public hearing on HB 443 tomorrow at 1PM in Annapolis.

CASAA's Julie Woessner and I plan to testify at the hearing against the HB 443's proposed smokeless tobacco tax hike.

 

[MD_Boater]

Please tell us what happened, Bill. Thank you!

I was unable to attend (interviewing candidates), but I did call and email my representative.

 

[Bill Godshall]

The hearing on HB 443 went much better than I had anticipated would occurs, as there were as many (maybe more) opponents of HB 443 than supporters. It also helped that Greg Conley, CASAA's Julie Woessner and I were the last people to testify on HB 443, and all three of us urged rejection of any smokeless tobacco tax increase by pointing out that smokeless tobacco is 99% less hazardous than cigarettes, and has helped many smokers quit (who switched to smokeless).

It was also helpful that one of the Ways and Means Committee members asked me about the huge risk differences for different tobacco products. Below is my testimony.


Testimony to the
Maryland House Ways and Means Committee
on HB 443

February 20, 2014

By
William T. Godshall, MPH
Executive Director
Smokefree Pennsylvania
1926 Monongahela Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
412-351-5880
BillGodshall@verizon.net

I’m Bill Godshall, founder and executive director of Smokefree Pennsylvania. Since 1990, we’ve advocated policies to ban smoking in workplaces, reduce cigarette marketing to youth, increase cigarette tax rates, hold cigarette companies accountable in civil court, and in 2007 I convinced US Senator Mike Enzi to amend the Tobacco Control Act to require graphic warnings on all cigarette packs, which the FDA squandered by imposing warnings that were struck down as unconstitutional.

For disclosure, neither Smokefree Pennsylvania nor I have ever received any funding from any tobacco or drug company.

Since our goal is to reduce the leading cause of disease and death, we urge Maryland legislators to increase the cigarette tax by $1/pack, but to reject any increase in the smokeless tobacco tax rate.

Extensive scientific and empirical evidence, including a report I coauthored in 2006, confirms that smokeless tobacco products are 99% less hazardous than cigarettes, and that >99% of tobacco morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs in the US are caused by cigarette smoking (while <1% are due to the use of all OTP combined).

According to the CDC, cigarette smoking causes 75% of all oral cancer deaths in the US. In sharp contrast, smokeless tobacco causes <1% of all oral cancer deaths.

Smokers who switch to smokeless tobacco products reduce their disease risks nearly as much as smokers who quit all tobacco use, several million smokers in US (mostly white rural males) have already quit smoking cigarettes by switching to smokeless tobacco during the past five decades. In the past decade, smokers have accounted for most new smokeless tobacco users as consumption increased by 50%. Meanwhile, youth use of smokeless tobacco hasn’t increased, and remains low.

Since FDA approved NRT gums/lozenges/patches have a 95% failure rate as smoking cessation aids, they’ve helped fewer than a million smokers in the US quit smoking in the past 25 years. Since smokeless tobacco products are more effective for smoking cessation than NRT (for white males), Big Pharma funded health groups have greatly exaggerated the risks of smokeless tobacco and have lobbied to tax it out of existence.

Regarding youth, its important to remember that adults consume >99% of all tobacco products in the US (including smokeless tobacco), while youth consume <1% of all tobacco. And smokeless tobacco products are not gateways to cigarettes.

Since cigarettes are 100 times more harmful than smokeless tobacco products, smokeless tobacco should be taxed at a significantly lower rate than cigarettes.

But Maryland legislators punitively doubled the smokeless tax from 15% to 30% two years ago, and HB 443 would more than triple that rate so smokeless tobacco would be taxed at a higher rate than cigarettes.

Please note that PA has no tax on smokeless tobacco, WV taxes it at 7% of wholesale price, VA taxes it at a similar rate, and DE taxes it at 15%. Since most smokeless tobacco users in MD live within 15 miles of an adjacent lower taxed state, they will simply travel out of state to buy the products if MD further increases the tax rate.

Once again, Smokefree Pennsylvania urges you to increase the cigarette tax to $3/pack, but to reject any increase in the already punitive smokeless tobacco tax.

Thank you,

 

[Bill Godshall]

Here is CASAA's testimony on HB 443 presented by Julie Woessner.


Written Testimony to the
Maryland House Ways and Means Committee
House Bill 443
February 20th, 2014

Dear Representatives:

My name is Julie Woessner. I am the Legislative Director for The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA). I am here today representing our Maryland membership, former smokers who know first-hand the benefits of switching to a low-risk alternative to smoking. On behalf of our Maryland membership, CASAA respectfully requests that this Committee reject any attempts to raise taxes on smokeless tobacco products.

CASAA is a non-profit 501(c)(4), all-volunteer organization with a grassroots' membership of thousands of individuals from all walks of life. We are a consumer-focused organization, not a trade association. We receive no funding or contributions from any tobacco or drug company.

CASAA is dedicated to ensuring the availability of reduced harm alternatives to smoking and to providing honest information about those alternatives. Since CASAA's founding in 2009, we have educated the public and increased awareness about the benefits of reduced harm alternatives to smoking, including smokeless tobacco. We also encourage responsible legislative policy designed to improve public health by recognizing that smoke-free nicotine-containing products are inherently far less dangerous than smoking.

Simply stated, smokeless tobacco products are far less hazardous alternatives to cigarettes and, accordingly, should not be subjected to burdensome and punitive taxes. We believe that the present tax rate of 30% on the wholesale price of smokeless products is already higher than appropriate given the incredibly low risk profile of these products. Any further increase would actually work against the interests of public health by discouraging smokers from switching to smokeless tobacco and reducing their health risks by an estimated 99%.

Epidemiological studies have consistently found that smokeless tobacco products are about 99% less hazardous than cigarettes. Smokers who switch to smokeless tobacco reduce their health risks nearly as much as those who quit all tobacco use. Several million smokers in the US and Sweden have already significantly reduced their health risks by switching to smokeless tobacco products. Several of the many studies and reports are included as an exhibit to this testimony.

Since smokeless tobacco products pose far fewer health risks than cigarettes, there is no justification for taxing smokeless tobacco products at a similar rate as cigarettes. If Maryland's smokeless tobacco tax is increased, fewer cigarette smokers (than otherwise) will reduce their health risks by switching to smokeless tobacco, and some smokeless tobacco users may switch to far more hazardous cigarettes.

Moreover, we believe that increasing the tax on smokeless products is unlikely to generate significantly more tax revenue for the state. Because smokeless tobacco products are taxed at a much lower rate in neighboring states, many or most smokeless tobacco users in Maryland will travel a short distance to a neighboring state to buy tobacco.

For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully request that this Committee reject any proposed increase in Maryland's smokeless tobacco tax.


Sincerely,


Julie Woessner
CASAA Legislative Director
jwoessner@casaa.org
919-98-7931


Appendix
To Testimony of
The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association
To the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee
House Bill 443
February 20th, 2014

The case for harm reduction for control of tobacco-related illness and death (American Association of Public Health Physicians)
http://www.aaphp.org/Resources/Documents/20081026HarmReductionResolutionAsPassedl.pdf

Harm reduction in nicotine addiction; Helping people who can't quit (Royal College of Physicians)
http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/contents/e226ee0c-ccef-4dba-b62f-86f046371dfb.pdf

Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers (Rodu and Godshall)
HRJ | Full text | Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers

Systematic review of the relation between smokeless tobacco and cancer in Europe and North America (Lee and Hamlin)
BMC Medicine | Full text | Systematic review of the relation between smokeless tobacco and cancer in Europe and North America

Assessment of Swedish snus for tobacco harm reduction: an epidemiological modeling study. (Gartner et al.) . http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:13766/gartner_lancetpreprint.pdf

 

[Bill Godshall]

Here's my testimony two weeks ago opposing the smokeless tobacco tax hike in SB 589. CASAA also presented and submitted testimony opposing the proposed increase in smokeless tobacco tax. BG


Testimony to the
Maryland Senate Budget and Taxation Committee
on SB 589

February 26, 2014

By
William T. Godshall, MPH
Executive Director
Smokefree Pennsylvania
1926 Monongahela Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
412-351-5880
BillGodshall@verizon.net

I’m Bill Godshall, founder and executive director of Smokefree Pennsylvania. Since 1990, we’ve advocated policies to ban smoking in workplaces, stop cigarette marketing to youth, increase cigarette tax rates, hold cigarette companies accountable in civil court, and in 2007 I convinced US Senator Mike Enzi to amend the Tobacco Control Act to require graphic warnings on all cigarette packs, which the FDA squandered by imposing warnings that were struck down as unconstitutional.

For disclosure, neither Smokefree Pennsylvania nor I have ever received any funding from any tobacco or drug company.

Since our goal is to reduce the leading cause of disease and death, we urge Maryland legislators to increase the cigarette tax by $1/pack, but to reject any increased tax on smokeless tobacco.

Extensive scientific and empirical evidence, including a report I coauthored in 2006, confirms that smokeless tobacco products are 99% less hazardous than cigarettes, and that >99% of tobacco morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs in the US are caused by cigarette smoking (while <1% are due to the use of all OTP combined).

According to the CDC, cigarette smoking causes 75% of all oral cancer deaths in the US. In sharp contrast, smokeless tobacco causes <1% of all oral cancer deaths.

Smokers who switch to smokeless tobacco products reduce their disease risks nearly as much as smokers who quit all tobacco use, several million smokers in US (mostly white rural males) have already quit smoking cigarettes by switching to smokeless tobacco during the past five decades. In the past decade as smokeless tobacco consumption increased by 50%, smokers have accounted for most new users. Meanwhile, youth use of smokeless tobacco hasn’t increased, and remains low.

FDA approved NRT gums/lozenges/patches have a 95% failure rate as smoking cessation aids, and have helped fewer than a million smokers in the US quit smoking in the past 25 years. Since smokeless tobacco products are more effective for smoking cessation than NRT (for white males), Big Pharma funded health groups have greatly exaggerated the risks of smokeless tobacco and have lobbied to tax it out of existence.

Regarding youth, its important to remember that adults consume >99% of all tobacco products in the US, and smokeless tobacco products are not gateways to cigarettes.

Since cigarettes are 100 times more harmful than smokeless tobacco products, cigarettes should be taxed at a much higher rate than smokeless tobacco. And since cigars are less hazardous than cigarettes (as most cigar smokers don’t inhale the smoke and don’t smoke daily), cigars should also be taxed at a lower rate than cigarettes.

But two years ago, Maryland legislators punitively doubled the smokeless tax from 15% to 30%, and increased the tax rate on most cigars to an outrageous 70%. SB 589 would absurdly increase the tax on smokeless tobacco and cigars even higher than the proposed $3/pack cigarette tax.

Please note that PA has no tax on smokeless tobacco, WV taxes it at 7% of wholesale price, VA taxes it at a similar rate, and DE taxes it at 15%. Since most smokeless tobacco users in MD live within 15 miles of an adjacent lower taxed state, they will simply travel out of state to buy the products if MD further increases the tax rate.

Once again, Smokefree Pennsylvania urges you to increase the cigarette tax to $3/pack, but to reject any increase in the already punitive taxed smokeless tobacco.

Thank you,