For many Missouri health advocates, an increase in the state's tobacco tax is long overdue. But onlookers might be surprised to hear that tobacco companies are spending a fortune this election year to get one or another increase in that tax passed, while health groups are urging a no vote.
At 17 cents for a pack of cigarettes, Missouri's tax is the lowest in the country — a fraction of what you'd pay in many states. New York's tax is the highest at $4.35 a pack, for example, and Florida ranks around the middle of the states at $1.34 a pack. Missouri's cigarette tax also hasn't changed since 1993.
Health groups like the American Lung Association say Missouri's low cigarette prices contribute to one of the highest smoking rates of any state in the country: Twenty-two percent of adults in Missouri smoke, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[For more of this story, written by Alex Smith, go to http://www.npr.org/sections/he...oost-a-cigarette-tax]
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