Letter: Cigarette Tax has Saved Lives and Health Care Costs

Brooke Hoyt of Medford Health Matters and Diane Knight of Northeast Tobacco Free Community Partnership write about how the quarter tax on cigarette packs has supported a decrease in tobacco use.

To the editor: In November 1992 voters from across the commonwealth took the courageous step of voting in favor of a referendum that would add a 25-cent tax to each pack of cigarettes sold in Massachusetts. This tax would be used to help current smokers get the resources to quit when they were ready to make that life-saving decision. Twenty years later, that quarter tax is responsible for a revolution that has saved lives, prevented youth from becoming addicted, and saved the commonwealth millions of dollars in health-care costs. Since the time of that vote, the state has seen a dramatic change in the way people think about tobacco. The change in perspective has directly resulted in the elimination of unattended sales to minors at vending …

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