top of page

SUNDAY EDITION | New group seeks tax hike on Kentucky cigarettes amid pension woes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – For the last decade, Cathy Anderson has tried to help people in northeastern Kentucky’s Boyd County quit smoking or not start using tobacco at all.

The county seat, Ashland, bans smoking in workplaces and other public spaces. And all three of the area’s public school systems have tobacco-free campuses.

But the adult smoking rate of 21 percent remains higher than the national average of about 15 percent, as is the case across the state. At 25 percent Kentucky has the second-highest share of adult smokers in the U.S., trailing only neighboring West Virginia.

“I want jobs here. I want my kids to stay here,” said Anderson, a registered nurse who oversees Boyd County’s tobacco cessation program. “When it comes to this area looking attractive, we’re not – and it’s because of smoking.”

Other states have sought to cut smoking rates by raising taxes on cigarettes. Anderson and the Ashland-Boyd County Health Department favor that approach – as does a new, wide-ranging collection of more than 100 Kentucky organizations.

View full article and video.

American Cancer Society

Cancer Action Network

 

American Heart Association American Stroke Association

 

American Lung Association

 

Baptist Health

 

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

 

Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky

Humana

Kentucky Cancer Foundation

 

Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy

 

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

 

Kentucky Council of Churches

Kentucky Equal Justice Center

 

Kentucky Health Collaborative

 

Kentucky Health Departments Association

Kentucky Hospital Association

 

Kentucky Medical Association

 

Kentucky Nurses Association

  

Kentucky Voices for Health

 

Kentucky Youth Advocates

Contact the Coalition

Toll Free: 877-326-2583

info@smokefreetomorrow.org

bottom of page