Many objective reasons for cigarette tax hike

Last month, I submitted a letter urging a significant increase in the tobacco tax. Over a glass of wine, a good friend thanked me for my opinion and suggested personal opinions are rarely persuasive. Good point, well taken. So for any who might be curious, there are large databases you can reference.

Smoking contributes to the cost of unreimbursed health care and the cost of funded health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Equally important are nonmedical costs, such as lost work productivity ($97 billion each year). Moreover, smoking contributes to our higher insurance premiums.

According to the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American College of Chest Physicians, Society for Vascular Surgery, World Health Organization and about 15 more medical societies, estimated health care and productivity costs are almost $5 for every single pack of cigarettes sold. And the "tobacco settlements" did not pay for these annual "hits" on our economy.

Tobacco is a vehicle for misery. Any pulmonary physician can tell you about hundreds of patients who suffer daily from diseases caused by smoking. Their lives, and unfortunately, the lives of their families, are literally being destroyed.

It's time for everyone to quit smoking and to stop supporting this killer habit. One way to do this is through a painful tax on tobacco. This tax revenue should go directly to health care support, including education for our youth.

Tony Schopp

Hilton Head Island