MACON, Ga. — If you smoke cigarettes or vape, your cost could go up. A bill in the General Assembly would raise the state tax and use the proceeds to improve health care.
Introduced by House Representative Ron Stephens, two bills in the contention could make the tax possible.
House bills 191 and 192 have the same language but their numbers are different. Bill 191 states a $0.57 tax per pack of 20 cigarettes and a $0.05 per fluid milliliter for vapor products in a closed system. For an open system, it would be a 7% tax on the wholesale cost price.
According to America's Health Ranking annual report, Georgia ranks 36th for overall health. That puts us in the bottom third nationwide, and some Georgia representatives want to improve it by deterring people from smoking products. What is the benefit of the tax? The money would be "intended to be appropriated for healthcare purposes."
Shabbir Hussain is a smoker himself and says using the money to help fund Georgia's healthcare programs is a good thing.
"And $0.20 is not something people would worry about, and if that would benefit the health system, they should go for it," Hussain said.
According to the CDC, e-cigarettes have been the most used tobacco product among U.S. youth. While doctors don't recommend vaping, Hussain says he sees all types of customers interested.
"I've seen people who are actually smokers who have actually no knowledge and they're trying to get into it, and there are also a lot of newcomers who don't know much about it," Hussain said.
Types of items taxed would be little cigars, loose or smokeless tobacco products, and any type of consumable vapor products. Hussain says there is still a lot to learn about many of the vaping products.
While the bill doesn't specify which health programs the money would fund, the Georgia Department of Community Health has several health programs, like disease prevention and eliminating the disparity in health care. One of their targets: smoking cigarettes can cause diabetes, lung cancer, and heart disease.
A federal study found 2.55 million U.S. middle and high school students use e-cigarettes in 2022. Hussain works at a vape shop and says he sees people switching from cigarettes to vaping products.
"With the vapes, the thing I find intriguing is they give you the option to lower your nicotine levels so you can gradually get out of the addiction offer. Then there's also the CBD market that adds oils for other medication benefits, so I believe it has a very nice feature and from the trends that I see, it is picking up," Hussain said.
As of 2019, the Georgia Department of Public Health identified 42 cases of vaping-related illness including 6 deaths. Cases range from 14 to 68 years of age, and 62% of all cases are men. Also in 2019, the CDC reported 21% of all Georgia high school youth reported using a tobacco product.