Same stuff, different wrapper: tobacco is bad regardless of packaging

All forms of tobacco are bad, but you would not know it by some of the bills introduced in the Arizona Legislature this year.

To establish a baseline, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. According to the CDC , “ cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causes many diseases, and reduces the health of smokers in general.” If no one smoked, “one of every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen.” Tobacco use, regardless of its form, is dangerous, addictive , and has been associated with increased rates of cancer.

Properly defining commercial tobacco products in law, restricting their use, regulating the sale and aggressively taxing it save lives, health care costs, and public and private resources. Model policies have been shown to work in reducing access or uptake of tobacco.

And, yet while a bill that would do these things (SB1130) sat on the shelf with no committee debate, tobacco industry inspired bills have made it into the public square in Arizona. Most recently the industry is supporting bills that divert resources and attention from real solutions and instead seek favorable tax treatment, like HB2277.

HB2277 proposed to exempt a heated tobacco product commonly known as “heat sticks” from taxation, targeting more price-sensitive consumers including youth. Thus far in studies , heated tobacco products have been shown to contain more than 20 toxic chemicals, including some that can cause cancer.

Arizona voters in 2006 wisely chose to raise tobacco taxes to $2 per pack of cigarettes. We know large, frequent, uniform tobacco tax increases across all products help people quit using tobacco and discourages uptake by people who could potentially start to use tobacco.

The tobacco industry has a history of making outrageous claims, with confusing, deceiving and exploitative messaging. Arizona experienced this in 2013 with the passage of a law creating a category of products called “vapor products.” That law placed what were, at the time, commonly known as e-cigarettes in a category by themselves, not tobacco, and with a definition that didn’t incorporate products already on the market, let alone what the industry was envisioning. That law is still on the books. Those products are also not taxed as a luxury product like other tobacco products. This leaves some of the most popular items that are marketed to and attractive to young people in a gray area that makes enforcement challenging.

Thankfully, multiple Arizona cities have stepped up and instituted ordinances that properly define tobacco products to include e-cigarettes with real enforcement tools.

With the emergence of new tobacco products, it can be difficult to keep up. But in Arizona at least one of these new products was identified by the state Department of Revenuein 2020. Fortunately, the departmentcharacterized this new product, “heat sticks,” as a cigarette, just as the federal government has done.

Enter HB2277, offering a tax exemption for “heat sticks” and their ilk, recognized tobacco products. The bill would overturn a studied decision to instead grant the tobacco industry the potential to increase tobacco use and to garner higher profit margins.

For those making health claims for this product, please provide evidence and facts. No heated tobacco product has been FDA-approved as a safe and effective tobacco cessation product. All tobacco products are unsafe, including those the FDA has issued a premarket tobacco product marketing order or a modified risk marketing order. Heated tobacco products contain nicotine, which is addictive, and other toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that can cause serious health problems .

Be wary of the tobacco industry offering solutions to the many problems they have created. Simply put, there is no safe tobacco product. HB2277 creates carve outs and tax loopholes for tobacco products. It is critical that lawmakers protect young people, not Big Tobacco’s profits, and oppose efforts to reduce or eliminate taxes on any tobacco product, including heated cigarettes.

Charles C. Hsu, MD, PhD serves as an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Brian Hummell is Arizona’s Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Alejandro Recio-Boiles, M.D., FACP, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

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