Kentuckians Favor Excise Tax On E-Cigs

Kentucky adults to vapers: Pay up!

A new study from Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, found one thing that most Kentucky adults, no matter the locale or party, agree on: They want the commonwealth to slap an excise tax on the sale of e-cigarettes so that they’re taxed at the same rate as tobacco smokes.

Right now, only sales taxes are levied on electronic cigarettes, which generate tobacco vapor instead of the toxic fume that poisons everyone’s lungs (in the opinion of Cough Drops Central. But no bias here.) The survey found that a quarter of Kentuckians have used an e-cigarette at least once. Traditional cigs carry a sales taxes and a 60-cent excise tax.

The telephone survey of 1,597 adults was taken Oct. 8-Nov. 6 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. The margin of error is 2.5 percent.

The Interact for Health survey found that support for an excise tax on e-cigarettes achieved majorities across geographic regions and political affiliations. The only ones opposed were – surprise! – users of e-cigarettes.

Twenty-nine percent of men and 20 percent of women said they had used an e-cigarette at least once. But 41 percent of adults between 18 and 29 said they’d used the device at least once.

E-cigarettes are not regulated by anyone, not even the federal Food and Drug Administration. In April, Kentucky joined 39 others states in prohibiting the sale of “electronic nicotine delivery systems” to minors.