PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Senator Rosalind Kurita
Pamela George
Office: (615) 741-2374*Home: (931) 358-2005


January 14, 2002

Sen. Kurita: 'Raising cigarette taxes will reduce teen smoking'


Senator Rosalind Kurita is filing legislation today aimed at reducing teen
smoking by raising the state's tax on cigarettes up to the national average
of 43 cents per pack. Currently Tennessee's cigarette tax is one of the
lowest in the nation at 13 cents.
"Research shows us that bringing Tennessee's cigarette tax up to the
national average would decrease the number of teenagers who begin to smoke,"
Sen. Kurita said. "We need to focus on protecting our children, not the
profits of tobacco conglomerates."
Sen. Kurita charged tobacco companies with manipulating citizens into
believing that low cigarette taxes protect Tennessee tobacco farmers. "The
facts are very different," Sen. Kurita said. "Even though tobacco companies
are selling more cigarettes than ever before, they are buying less and less
from American farmers as they opt to buy foreign-grown tobacco."
Sen. Kurita said the teen smoking problem in Tennessee needs to be
addressed. "Tennessee has the highest percentage of cigarette smokers among
public high school students in the United States. A recent U.S. Surgeon
General's Report, as well as numerous other scientific publications found
that increasing the price of cigarettes would decrease the prevalence of
cigarette use, particularly among kids and young adults."
As an additional benefit, Senator Kurita said the cigarette tax proposal
will generate more than $162 million of new revenue from cigarette sales in
Tennessee, according to estimates from the General Assembly's fiscal review
department. "According to Tennessee law, this money would go to public
education, grades K-12," Sen. Kurita said.