A number of studies in our journal and others have highlighted the strong association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and in turn the increased risk for a low birthweight or preterm birth or even worse, a baby who is subject to sudden infant death syndrome. So what happens when you increase a tax on cigarettes relative to infant mortality?
Patrick et al. (doi/10.1542/peds.2015-2901) have chosen to answer that question using national all-states data gathered between 1999 and 2010. The good news is that for every dollar increase per pack of cigarettes due to a cigarette tax, there was an associated decline in the infant death rate .
Similar findings occurred just by raising the price of cigarettes independent of raising the tax. This is an important study and one that may be useful to share with families in your practice or community, and certainly your legislators. Read the full details and learn more.
