The state of Louisiana is ranked 49th in the United States for taxes on cigarettes.
A new amendment to the Constitution of Louisiana has been proposed by Representative Harold Ritchie that would raise taxes on cigarettes from 36 cents to $1.54 per pack of 20.
Judith Sylvester, associate professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication, was the driving force behind the movement for a smoke-free LSU and is now hoping to see this tax lessen the amount of smoking on campus as well.
“There’s solid evidence that if you increase the tax enough and that’s why I’m saying it needs to be over $1, $1.18, somewhere in that neighborhood before you actually see a decrease in kids smoking,” Sylvester explained. “Because it has to be expensive enough that they actually feel the economic impact from it.”
Apart from the hopes of those that support the smoking ban, many others hope to see the cigarette tax come about to combat the budget cuts on LSU. Although there are positives to the increase in cigarette taxes, the negatives are just as evident.
“They’re making the government reliant income-wise on people smoking,” mechanical engineering major Alex Townsend said. “So, when they want people to stop smoking, they are cutting the funding that they are reliant on.”
If Louisiana raised the cigarette tax from 36 cents to $1.08, the state could generate $276 million by next year. Others hope to see the cigarette tax come about to combat the budget cuts on LSU.
“I wish they’d done this six years ago because now we would be seeing the impact from it, but it takes time,” Sylvester said.
The proposed amendment will be voted on in the statewide election on October 24, 2015, and, if it were to pass, the tax would go into effect on January 1, 2016.