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Dollar increase per pack sparks new resolve to quit

Wisconsin smokers are taking a hit to the pocketbook since a $1 increase in the cigarette tax took effect Jan. 1.

Gov. Jim Doyle called the increase a success as part of a package to reduce smoking in Wisconsin, though the overall tax, now at $1.75 per pack, has upset some business owners and smokers.

The tax has also spurred a “torrent” of new calls to the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line according to Moira Harrington, communications director for the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention.

“What we’ve found and what we’ve known for years is that most people want to quit smoking,” Harrington said.

The line, which receives approximately 9,600 calls in a typical year, already had 13,250 in the first two weeks of 2008.

Harrington added the tax isn’t the only reason the quit line has gotten more calls than usual.

“This has been kind of a perfect convergence of the new year, the tax and the availability of free medication,” Harrington said.

For the first time, smokers calling the quit line can receive a two-week supply of medication, including nicotine gum, lozenges or patches. Though the number of calls on New Year’s Day usually spikes with about 50, this year the line got 1,200 calls Jan. 1 and 2,600 Jan. 2.

The governor’s office is working on three fronts to reduce smoking, including the cigarette tax, a $30 million package to help smokers quit and the governor’s support of legislation banning smoking in Wisconsin.

“We’re concerned about people’s health, we want to see people quit smoking and we want to see people in Wisconsin live longer and healthier lives,” said Doyle’s deputy communications director Lee Sensenbrenner.

However, Cas Salas, owner of Triangle Market on State Street, said he is worried about the tax effecting his business. He said most of his sales come from cigarettes and bottled beverages.

“It’s getting a little scarier,” Salas said of the prospect of more people giving up smoking because of the tax. “I don’t know if I could continue business without our No. 1 seller.”

Salas added he has received complaints from customers about the increase, though he won’t know the full effect on his sales until students, his main customers, settle back in.

“I’ve had some people talk to me and say it’s more than they can afford. Other people have said it’s gotten to the point where they have to start thinking about quitting smoking, and others say it (the expense) just comes with smoking,” Salas said.

Madison resident Michael Jones said the tax won’t be enough to dissuade him from smoking and has mixed feelings about the increased expense.

“It’s good for younger kids because kids in high school are more likely not to want to give up that extra dollar to smoke,” Jones said. “But at the same time, it’s kind of unfair for people who do want to smoke and are going to smoke anyways, and if they’re grown adults.”