PUBLIC HEALTH
CURBING NICOTINE USE THROUGH POLICY CHANGE
AND COLLABORATION
AUTHOR Sarah Moyer, MD, MPH
P
ublic health literature over the past
20 years has asserted the importance
of policy change and collaboration
across various sectors of the commu-
nity to improve population health.
Increasing taxes on tobacco products,
for example, can improve the health
of our city by reducing the number of people
using these products and preventing young people from beginning
their use.
That’s why last year the Greater Louisville Medical Society
(GLMS), the Department of Public Health and Wellness, the Foun-
dation for a Healthy Kentucky and many others across the state
advocated for a $1 increase to the state tobacco tax.
GLMS, the Department of Public Health and Wellness, and oth-
ers have long advocated for an increase in the tobacco tax. Coming
Together for Hope Healing and Recovery, Louisville’s two-year plan
to address substance misuse in the city; the 2017 Health Equity Plan
and Healthy Louisville 2020 all call for increasing the tobacco tax.
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
A huge body of research (The US Surgeon General, 2014; Cha-
loupka, 1999; the National Bureau of Economic Research, 2001 to
name but a few) shows that making tobacco products more expen-
sive through higher taxes lowers smoking rates and prevents young
people from taking up the habit. Polls taken throughout Kentucky
over the past 10 years also indicate that an increase in tobacco taxes
is one tax hike that voters support.
While we were not successful in getting the full $1 tax increase
last year, we did get a 50-cent increase that went into effect on July
1, 2018. In January, the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky released
the results of the most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP).
The poll found that 39 percent of Kentucky smokers cut back the
number of cigarettes they smoked, 33 percent considered quitting,
and 26 percent actually tried to quit because of the cigarette price
increase.
This is one small step in our efforts to improve the health of
Louisville residents through policy change. While smoking rates have
been gradually coming down in recent years, the adult smoking rate
of 25.5% in Louisville remains well above the national rate of 15.1%.