Addressing Heart Disease in New Mexico
Why a cigarette tax is a viable solution
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in New Mexico. One out of five deaths are due to heart disease. The economic costs are mind-boggling: an estimated $4.4 billion per year— in medical care and absenteeism. Taking the number of deaths in 2020 this can be estimated to be $1.04 million loss per death.
A question everyone should be asking themselves: are there factors that will increase my likelihood of experiencing heart disease?
Smoking is one of the top three risk factors for heart disease[i]. The other two risk factors are high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
To combat the number of deaths caused by heart disease, decision makers should target smoking rates in New Mexico. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of heart disease by half after one year [ii]. A cigarette tax could help reduce smoking rates. In 2019, New Mexico raised the cigarette tax from $1.66 to $2.00 tax per pack. An increase of $2.50 per pack to $4.50 would match the highest in the country, Washington, D.C [iii]. The capitol has seen a decrease in smoking rates since 2017 [iv].
New Mexico has approximately 256,000 smokers, a smoking rate of 16% [v] [vi]. This is higher than the national smoking rate of 12% [vii]. Research has established that for every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes, smoking declines by 4 percent for adults (and 7 percent for youth). A $2.50 increase would be a 125% increase to reach $4.5 tax per cigarette pack. Thus, we can assume that the tax increase would reduce smoking rates in New Mexico by 50% [viii]. This could result in 38,400 adults no longer at risk of heart disease [ix]. Smoking rates for New Mexico’s youth would also have a substantial reduction.
This option will also generate new revenue for New Mexico. For example, a 10% tax increase, could produce approximately $138 million in revenue [x]. A percentage of the revenue can be allocated to prevention and intervention services to continue battling the effects of smoking and lowering people's risk of heart disease. Currently the revenue from this tax is going mostly to the general fund; part of this policy option is to request a portion be provided to NM’s Department of Health Nicotine Use Prevention and Control Program.
The manufacturing companies of tobacco products will certainly oppose a tax increase. In 2019, when the tax increase was passed there was disappointment among supporters that the increase was not high enough [xi]. One possible negotiation can be to pass a policy that increases the excise tax in phases such as each year a 10% increase is adopted until the $4.50 per pack is met, however, this would take 9 years.
There are other strategies that can be used to combat heart disease. One is nudging people to move their bodies more, there are walking initiatives that the CDC endorses. This is done by adding motivational signs such as “Walking upstairs burns almost 5x more calories than riding an elevator” [xii]. Another strategy targets the other two risk factors, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. People need to know what their blood pressure and cholesterol levels are. One reason why people may not know what their numbers are is due to lack of access to health care. To address the problem is to improve people’s access to health care by investing in 5 additional mobile health clinics. Access to health prevention services helps people make better choices regarding their health, knowing that you have high cholesterol may lead you to change some of your eating habits.
The 38,400 adults no longer at risk of heart disease would have a big impact on New Mexico. Ignoring this issue can be the difference between life or death for many New Mexicans. If the status quo remains the same, 20% of deaths in New Mexico will continue to be from heart disease. Knowing that smoking will place people at a higher risk of heart disease is an opportunity for lawmakers to make decisions that will help New Mexicans leave smoking behind. Reducing the risk of dying from a preventive disease is not something we should take lightly. Deaths from heart disease in New Mexico CAN NOT be taken lightly. The lives of our parents, grandparents, neighbors, or anyone we care about should not be taken lightly, action is a must.
For free resources to help someone quit smoking visit the New Mexico Quit Now Website: https://www.quitnownm.com/
References:
[i] Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention 2023. “Know your Risk for Heart Disease.” https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/risk_factors.htm
(accessed May, 2023)
[ii] American Heart Association 2022. “The Benefits of Quitting Smoking Now.” https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/quit-smoking-tobacco/the-benefits-of-quitting-smoking-now (accessed March, 2023)
[iii] Truth Initiative 2021. “Tobacco use in the District of Columbia 2021” https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/smoking-region/tobacco-use-district-columbia-2021 (accessed March, 2023)
[iv] Nirappil, F. 2018. “How D.C. smokers and stores are responding to $2-a-pack cigarette tax hike.” The Washington Post. November 22, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/how-dc-smokers-and-stores-are-responding-to-2-a-pack-cigarette-tax-hike/2018/11/22/441c4d8c-ece4-11e8-8679-934a2b33be52_story.html
[v] New Mexico population = 1.6 million adults. 1,600,000x.16 (smoking rate 16%) = 256,000 smokers.
[vi] World Population Review 2023. “Smoking Rates by State 2023.” https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/smoking-rates-by-state (accessed March, 2023)
[vii] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2023. “Current cigarette smoking among adults in the United States.” https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm (accessed May, 2023)
[viii] Tauras JA, O'Malley PM, Johnston LD, "Effects of Price and Access Laws on Teenage Smoking Initiation: A National Longitudinal Analysis," Bridging the Gap Research, ImpacTeen, April 2001. Available at: https://impacteen.uic.edu/access.htm
[ix] 10 % increase in the price of cigarettes will reduce smoking by 4 % for adults. To increase tax from 2 to 2.5 (125% difference) that is a 50% decrease (125 x .4). Resulting in 256,000 smokers x .50 = 128,000 adults stop smoking. 128,000 adults x .30 (smoking reduces risk of heart disease by 30%) = 38,400 adults no longer at risk of heart disease.
[x] 256,000 adult smokers, a 4% decrease in smoking from the tax increase (10,240 people quit smoking in year 1) = 245,760 smokers buying cigarettes. On average people smoke 14 cigarettes per day, this will result in smokers paying an average $562 in excise tax per year ($2.2 per pack / 20 cigarettes = $ 0.11 per cigarette. $.11 x 14 average cigarettes smoked per day. $1.54 per day x 365 days in a year = $562). 245,760 smokers x $562 = $138,141,696.
[xi] Mckay, D. 2019. “New Mexicans to start paying more taxes next week.” Albuquerque Journal. June 27, 2019. https://www.abqjournal.com/1334014/nm-taxes-to-climb-next-week.html
[xii] Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2022. “Prompts to Encourage Physical Activity.” https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/community-strategies/prompts-to-encourage-physical-activity.html (accessed March, 2023)
Image link: https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-prevention-efforts/importance-tobacco-taxes
Comments
Post a Comment