State Cigarette Taxes and Lung Cancer Incidence, United States, 1970-2019.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Although smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, smoking rates have been declining for decades, in part due to increasing cigarette taxes. This study analyzed how states increased and responded to cigarette taxes to determine whether increasing contemporary cigarette taxes could reduce lung cancer incidence in the United States.

Methods

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data were used to measure state-level cigarette tax and consumption (pack sales per capita). For each state, the elasticity of demand (change in cigarette consumption percentage/change in state tax) was estimated. Then, each state was classified into 4 mutually exclusive groups based on median change in the state cigarette tax from 1970 to 2019 (high, low) and median elasticity (high,

SUBMITTER: Semprini J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12264240 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature