Insufficient tobacco tax increase proposals undermine public health

In response to proposed plans that inadequately increase Missouri’s lowest-in-the-nation tobacco tax, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, and several other local health groups called on the Missouri legislature to resist the tobacco industry proposals. “Tobacco products in Missouri are too cheap and the health costs are too high. Our state is long overdue for a tobacco tax increase…A meaningful tobacco tax increase – of $1.00 per pack or more – has proven time and again to be an effective way to reduce tobacco use, cut health care costs and generate state revenue.”