In a recent study conducted by the Tobacco Free Mass Coalition and the DC based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, statistics revealed an increase of 3.2% in tobacco sales in Massachusetts for 2006. Although the state continues to maintain below average sales when compared to the national scale, this 3.2% jump is every bit alarming to the two campaigns.
The campaigns blame the increase in tobacco sales on the reduction of state funding for the state's tobacco control program between 2000 and 2004. In this four year block, state funding was cut 95%, lowering the allocated purse from $51.8 million to $2.5 million. Although still comparatively low, the current budget allocations for the tobacco control program have risen to $8.3 million for 2007, or roughly one quarter of the Center for Disease Control's recommended state funding for tobacco control programs.
But the study has one flaw; it neglects to consider the passing of recent legislation in both Vermont and New York, two of Massachusetts' bordering states which now require all cigarettes sold to the public to be self-extinguishing. It is reported that the composition of the new self-extinguishing cigarette has an altered taste, and those who don’t have to purchase the cigarettes in these states, wont. Consequently, more smokers from New York and Vermont are crossing into Massachusetts for their tobacco purchases.
In an article dated May 24, 2007 by WNYT News channel 13, Colonie, New York Fire Chief Pete Lattanzio admits that smokers can purchase cigarettes out of state and bypass the self-extinguishing law altogether. While the article's primary focus is on the decrease of cigarette-caused fires within New York, Lattanzio's statement supports the idea that the public utilizes alternate locations for purchasing tobacco goods, which in turn supports that a critical factor is overlooked in the Massachusetts' study.
Additionally, while smokers living in Massachusetts once sought ways to escape the heavy cigarette tax by purchasing their tobacco products in bordering states, it is in the advent of self-extinguishing cigarettes that more cigarette smokers from Massachusetts are staying within Massachusetts for their tobacco purchases as well. This shift in the public's buying practices becomes a catalyst in altering the tri-state smoking stats, both lowering the stats in New York and Vermont as well as raising them in Massachusetts.
Nonetheless, smokers are beginning to feel somewhat corralled between the state's high tax and the new laws of self-extinguishing cigarettes in neighboring states; a notion that reinforces the continued success of the campaign's mission even in with heavy monetary allotment over the past seven years. Contrary to the Massachusetts based campaign, the program is continuing to make a significant impact on smokers, not only within Massachusetts, but now, additionally with those from bordering states, and a large portion of the credit should be handed to the states with newly enacted self-extinguishing cigarette laws.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids believes that one way to decrease cigarette sales is to raise the tax on tobacco products, forcing smokers to quit because of high prices. As it stands, Massachusetts tax on cigarettes is $1.51 per pack, the highest in the nation according to Tobacco Free Mass. However, according to the Tax Foundation's report issued In February of 2007, Massachusetts is reported as being the 12th highest taxed state in the nation regarding tobacco.
While the study's outcome should not be dismissed, a more critical look at the adjusting factors should be considered before committing the study's numbers to fact. This flaw or omission of relevant data poses a legitimacy hazard to the study's overall outcome. Focusing on sales alone just cannot paint an accurate picture of the Massachusetts smoking community. Finding ways to look at the number of smokers making tobacco purchases inside Massachusetts who do not live in the state should be evaluated closely to create a more definitive status report on overall tobacco sales.
