Currently under consideration by the House Health and Human Resources Committee is HB-2746 which would increase the tobacco excise tax by raising the tax on cigarettes by 65 cents per pack and increasing the rate on other tobacco products from 7% of the wholesale price to 14% of the wholesale price.
Higher taxes produce a decrease in the number of children who smoke. On this point even the public health advocates and the tobacco industry agree. Industry documents show that Philip Morris, a corporate giant in the tobacco industry, believes that when taxes are raised the overall number of people who use tobacco products decreases. Another large tobacco company, RJ Reynolds, has data that shows that if tobacco prices were increased by 10 percent then the number of teenage smokers would decrease by 11.9 percent.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, increasing West Virginia excise tax would mean 12,400 children alive today will prevented from becoming adult smokers.

In addition to preventing children from starting using tobacco a tobacco tax increase, as proposed in this legislation, would result in 8,500 current adult smokers quitting and and would prevent 2,700 smoking-affected births.

This proposed tax increase would generate nearly $100 million in new revenue and realize the state nearly $300 million in long-term health savings.