A pep rally of nurses cheered on Governor Phil Bredesen’s proposed cigarette tax increase Monday calling it a way to stop young people from smoking.
Health Commissioner Susan Cooper, herself a nurse, says figures show Tennessee youth are among the heaviest smokers in the nation.
“Each year in this state, 8,400 Tennessee children under the age of 18 become new, daily smokers. That’s about 23 children a day and that’s just unacceptable.”
Cooper says the governor’s forty-cent tax increase on cigarettes is projected to create at least a 7.7% percent decrease in youth smoking.
The governor’s proposal is due before the two finance committees this week. Senate Republicans have argued that the increase is too high.
WEB EXTRA
The nurses included
State Health Commissioner Susan Cooper
Senate Speaker Pro Tem Rosalind Kurita of Clarksville
State Representative Joanne Favors of Chattanooga
Janie Parmley, Tennessee Nurses Association
Alisa Haushalter, Metro Health Department
Many of the research findings cited by the nurses can be found on the website “Tobacco Free Kids.” See the factsheets.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM