Testimony before the Rhode Island House Finance Committee Regarding Taxing Heated Tobacco Products
- Lindsey Stroud
- Apr 10
- 3 min read
Chairman Abney, Vice-Chairman Slater, Vice-Chairman Marszalkowski, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for your time today to discuss the issue of reducing the tax rate on heated tobacco products (HTPs) in Rhode Island. My name is Lindsey Stroud and I’m a Creator and Manager of Tobacco Harm Reduction 101 (thr101.org), a website dedicated to examining tobacco and vapor product use among adults and youth. Since 2016, in various roles, I have actively monitored and examined state, national, and international tobacco and tobacco harm reduction policies.
As lawmakers seek to collect additional revenue, many have looked at imposing an excise tax on various types of tobacco and vapor products, including HTPs. While lawmakers should refrain from imposing taxes on populations which are disproportionately impacted by taxes, it is imperative lawmakers enact taxes which are proportionate to the risks associated with using them. As such, lawmakers should refrain from imposing excessive taxes on products which are less harmful than traditional forms of smoked tobacco.
Key Points:
Over the past several decades, tobacco harm reduction products have successfully helped millions of adults quit smoking combustible cigarettes.
HTPs are a reduced risk product, with one company having authorization from the federal government, to market their product as less harmful.
Around the globe, the introduction of HTPs has led to declines in combustible cigarette use. The global market grew from $15.6 million in 2014 to $28.7 billion in 2021.
The FDA has authorized two HTPs in the U.S., with one product permitted to market its reduced risk to consumers.
Smoking has declined among Rhode Island adults. Between 2003 and 2023, the percentage of Rhode Islanders aged 18 years or older who were currently smoking declined by 57.3 percent, from 22.4 percent of adults to 95 percent.
Smoking rates among young adults aged 18 to 24 years old have declined by 93.1 percent, from 33.4 percent of young adults smoking in 2003, to 2.3 percent in 2023.
Smoking prevalence was higher among lower-income and less educated persons.
In 2023, 20.4 percent of adults who reported incomes of $25,000 or less per year smoked, compared to 5.2 percent of adults who reported incomes of $50,000 or more.
Rhode Island adults earning $25,000 or less were 3.9 times more likely to smoke than those earning $50,000+.
Among adults who did not graduate high school, 16.4 percent reported current cigarette use, compared to 4 percent of college graduates. Adults without a high school diploma were 4.1 times more likely to smoke than college graduates.
Youth use of combustible cigarettes is at record lows in Rhode Island, with only 0.6 percent of high schoolers reporting daily cigarette use.
Legislation should recognize that tobacco products exist on a continuum of risk, with combustible cigarettes as the most harmful, and other products (including HTPs), posing less harm to adult consumers.
Since 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recognized this continuum of risk and in recent years the agency has developed strategies to inform adults who smoke of safer risks.
Tobacco excise taxes should recognize the risk continuum – with less harmful products being subject to less of a tax burden than combustible cigarettes.
Several states have introduced reduced tax rates on HTPs.
Some states recognize HTPs as a different category of tobacco products and tax them at a lower rate than traditional combustible cigarette products.
Other states have reduced the tax burden on products which have received authorization from the FDA to market the product as a reduced risk product.
Reducing the tax rate incentivizes adults who can’t quit smoking to switch to less harmful products.
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