A new 75-cent tax on cigarettes went into effect Tuesday, raising the total Wisconsin cigarette tax to $2.52 per pack, the fifth highest state tax on cigarettes in the nation.
The tax increase is expected to reduce the number of smokers in Wisconsin and deter minors from taking up the habit.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said the tax increase in conjunction with the statewide smoking ban will reduce secondhand smoke and discourage minors from sharing cigarettes with friends.
""If you can't smoke at work and it's expensive, you are either likely to cut down how much you are smoking or maybe you will decide to quit altogether,"" she said.
According to Pete Madland, executive director of the Tavern League of Wisconsin, the tax will likely cause consumers to buy cigarettes illegally online or go to other states, such as Illinois, to make purchases.
The returns generated from the tax increase will be treated as all-purpose revenue. Madland said the tax increase will cost the state money overall and smokers will be forced to ""pay the bills"" for state projects.
""Hopefully the government makes up the money by the increase in the tax, but I think this time they went to the well once too often, and I think the 75-cent increase is not going to offset the loss in sales,"" he said.
Busalacchi said funding for tobacco control and prevention programs was cut by 55 percent last year and he was disappointed to find out the revenue generated by the new tax will not go toward those programs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every pack of cigarettes bought and sold in Wisconsin costs $9.53 in resources used to prevent or treat tobacco-related diseases.
""We are still basically subsidizing smoking in this state, but we are moving the right way,"" Busalacchi said.
