Governor Beshear should seriously reconsider ó and not be held to ó his campaign promise not to raise the state's cigarette tax to at least $1 per pack. Since taking office, the governor has become more aware than he probably cares to be that the state government over which he now presides is strapped for cash.
Incentivizing Kentucky's cigarette smoking citizens to kick a habit that is directly related to our state's status as one of the unhealthiest in the nation ó at great expense to both private and public sectors ó would reverse that health trend while also channeling needed revenues to education.
Kentucky's smoking rates (28.5 percent for adults and 24.5 percent for youths) are among the highest in the nation. More than 26 percent of women in Kentucky continue smoking during pregnancy. The national rate is just under 11 percent. According to a 2004 report by the U.S. Surgeon General, "Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.
The list of diseases caused by smoking has been expanded to include abdominal aortic aneurysm