Georgia’s Summer Hearings Missed the Point on Tobacco Harm Reduction

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Key Points:

• Summer Hearings: Georgia House held three sessions on smoking costs and policy responses, dominated by public health groups advocating tax hikes and flavor bans.

• Key Proposals: Raise cigarette and vape taxes, ban flavored vapes, expand compliance checks, reform licensing, and restore prevention program funding

• Missing Voices: No testimony from harm reduction manufacturers or adult consumers, despite there being more than one million smokers and 653,000 adult vapers in Georgia in 2023.

• Youth Data Gaps: Georgia hasn’t participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey since 2021; nationally, youth vaping dropped 61.5 percent between 2019 and 2023.

• Adult Trends: GA young adult smoking fell 83.8 percent since 2007; overall adult smoking down 38.1 percent; adult vaping up 60.5 percent since 2016, supporting $432 million in economic impact.

• Equity Concerns: Smoking is 3.7x more common among low-income adults, who see slower declines; excise tax hikes hit them hardest.

• Funding Failure: Georgia collected $307.2 million in tobacco revenue in 2023 but spent only $2.1 million (less than 1 percent) on cessation and prevention.

• Policy Takeaway: Lawmakers should invest existing funds effectively and incorporate harm reduction into debates, not rely solely on punitive taxes and bans.

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Over the summer of 2025, members of the Georgia House of Representatives held a series of hearings to examine the costs of smoking in the state and explore potential policy solutions. While the meetings provided some information, they were dominated by public health advocacy groups, with little representation from retailers, manufacturers, or adult consumers who rely on alternatives to cigarettes. Much of the testimony revolved around increasing Georgia’s excise tax on both tobacco and vapor products, yet there was almost no discussion of harm reduction. No witness addressed the regressive nature of tobacco taxes, and none pointed out how little of the hundreds of millions of dollars Georgia already collects from tobacco revenues is actually used to fund cessation or prevention programs.

During the first June sessionv lawmakers heard from representatives of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and a pediatrician affiliated with Emory and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Witnesses focused heavily on the disparity between the estimated $699 million in annual smoking-related healthcare costs and the roughly $200 million generated in excise tax revenue. Many urged a $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax, projected to generate an additional $500 million annually, alongside calls to restore funding to Georgia’s tobacco control program after federal budget cuts. Policy recommendations included indexing the cigarette tax to inflation, removing barriers in Medicaid cessation coverage, applying smoke-free laws to alternative nicotine products, and modernizing the tax system to bring parity across cigarettes, cigars, vaping, and other products. Legislators appeared receptive, with several signaling support for raising taxes.

The July hearing turned toward youth vaping, its health implications, taxation of vapor products, and regulatory gaps. Lawmakers briefly acknowledged that vaping could serve as a harm reduction tool for adults, but the discussion overwhelmingly centered on concerns about youth nicotine addiction. Much of the testimony came from the same public health groups as the prior hearing, joined by an Atlanta City Council member and a student advocate affiliated with the American Heart Association. Themes included calls for higher retail licensing fees, stronger underage compliance checks, bans on flavored products, zoning restrictions on vape shops, and aligning vapor product taxes with cigarette taxes. Witnesses repeatedly stressed an urgent need for statewide action on youth vaping.

The final August session solidified a set of recommendations that had surfaced throughout the summer: raising cigarette and vape taxes, banning flavored vapes, expanding mobile lung screening, reforming retail licensing and compliance, restoring funding to the state’s tobacco prevention program, and requiring ingredient transparency from manufacturers. Medical professionals, advocacy groups, and supportive legislators underscored the urgency of acting on both fiscal and health grounds.

Notably absent from all three hearings were voices representing tobacco harm reduction. Neither manufacturers of reduced-risk products nor adult consumers who depend on them were given the opportunity to testify. This omission ignores the reality of more than one million adult smokers in Georgia and the more than 653,000 adults who were vaping in 2023. While addressing youth use is important, Georgia has not participated in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey since 2021 and therefore lacks up-to-date state-specific data. Nationally, however, youth vaping has declined sharply from its 2019 peak. High school vaping dropped by 61.5 percent between 2019 and 2023, falling from 20 percent to just 7.7 percent.

At the same time, the introduction of e-cigarettes has coincided with record declines in smoking among young adults. In 2007, 23.4 percent of Georgia adults aged 18 to 24 smoked cigarettes; by 2023, that rate had dropped by 83.8 percent. Among all adults, smoking rates declined by 38.1 percent over the same period. Adult vaping, meanwhile, has increased as more smokers turn to alternatives. Between 2016 and 2023, adult vaping in Georgia rose by 60.5 percent, with nearly half of all vapers between the ages of 25 and 44 and more than 70 percent aged 25 or older. Beyond public health, vaping has also contributed economically, generating an estimated $432 million in total economic impact in 2023, including more than $128 million in wages.

Calls to raise the state’s excise tax remain deeply problematic. Smoking is far more prevalent among low-income Georgians, who in 2023 were 3.7 times more likely to smoke than high-income residents. Nearly a quarter of adults earning $25,000 or less smoked, compared to fewer than 7 percent of those earning $50,000 or more. Yet smoking rates among low-income adults declined by just 0.07 percent annually between 2003 and 2023, while higher-income adults saw reductions of 3.3 percent per year. Tax hikes fall heaviest on those least able to afford them, without delivering meaningful reductions in smoking prevalence.

Compounding this inequity, Georgia has failed to invest the tobacco revenues it already collects. In 2023, the state took in an estimated $307.2 million in tobacco-related revenue but spent only $2.1 million on cessation, prevention, and education – less than a penny for every dollar collected. Despite repeated calls from advocates to increase funding, Georgia continues to rank near the bottom in support for tobacco control efforts.

As lawmakers prepare for the 2026 session, it is imperative that they hear from all sides of the debate, including those who advocate for tobacco harm reduction. Rather than doubling down on punitive taxes and restrictions that burden low-income residents and ignore adult consumers, policymakers should focus on using existing revenues more responsibly, investing in prevention and cessation, and recognizing the role that reduced-risk products like e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches play in helping smokers move away from combustible cigarettes.

Nothing in this analysis is intended to influence the passage of legislation, and it does not necessarily represent the views of Tobacco Harm Reduction 101.