Letter Writing Activity

Let your voice be heard and send a message to your state legislators to let them know where you stand on increasing tobacco product excise taxes. You can use the form letter below by filling in your specific information, or better yet, use the information in the Tobacco Factoids to create your own letter with your own style.

Dear Representative :

Hello, my name is < YOUR NAME >. I am < YOUR AGE > and I live in < YOUR CITY AND STATE >. I am writing to ask you to support raising the cigarette excise tax by $1.50 per pack in the state of < YOUR STATE'S NAME >.

Did you know that one of the best ways to reduce teenage tobacco use is to sharply increase the price of tobacco products? At a minimum, a price increase should be $1.50 over no more than three years.

Recent reports call for an increase of at least $2.00 to discourage teenage smoking. Did you know that for every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes, demand among children and teenagers declines by an estimated 7%? Clearly, a larger increase will keep even more children from smoking.

Please support the health of < YOUR STATE'S NAME > children by supporting a cigarette excise tax increase of at least $1.50 per pack. Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely, < YOUR NAME > < YOUR AGE >

HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS
AND SEND THEM E-MAIL

To get information on your state legislator, go to the website for your state (www.state.??.us). Type in your state's initials in place of the question marks. For example, if you live in Maryland, type: www.state.md.us. Then select from the menu either State Legislature, State Government, or General Assembly. You should be able to identify who your state legislators are and send them e-mail if they have e-mail addresses. Then you can send your letter to your state legislator.

If you'd like to read more about the harmful effects of smoking tobacco, refer to these sites:

Cancer and tobacco

The American Heart Association

Smoke free class
On this site:The tobacco industry spends more than $6 billion each year - that's $16 million each day or $11,000 a minute - on advertising and special promotions. Why would they spend so much if they didn't think it works? What kind of choice is that?