Passing complementary pricing policies would strengthen impact of higher cigarette taxes

Passing complementary pricing policies would strengthen impact of higher cigarette taxes

Also in the 30th anniversary issue of Tobacco Control, a special communication by ASPiRE’s Kurt Ribisl and Shelley Golden proposes strategies for making higher tobacco excise taxes even more effective. Designing those taxes to raise prices frequently and substantially for all products, along with minimum price laws and bans on coupons, discounts, and other promotions would reduce the persistence of lower-price products and income-based smoking disparities. In combination, those policies restrict the tobacco industry’s ability to undermine the impact of higher excise taxes on retail prices. Read the special communication.