Commentary: Why higher nicotine taxes may not improve public health in Washington
Published 2:46 pm Sunday, March 1, 2026
I’ve spent my career supporting public health measures and “just say no” campaigns. I’ve voted in favor of smoking cessation programs, funded prevention initiatives, and supported taxes on smoking products when they were clearly tied to improved health outcomes.
When smoking taxes are calibrated carefully, they discourage harmful behavior. But when they aren’t, they often amount to an across-the-board net subtraction to the public welfare instead of a net benefit.
That is what I worry will happen if the taxes within Senate Bill 6129, a new legislative proposal to increase Washington’s overall tax treatment on nicotine products, is passed. The legislation seems poised to undermine the very public health goals that the bill’s well-intended sponsors are earnestly attempting to advance.
SB 6129 would impose a new 90% excise tax on most non-cigarette nicotine products and a 100% excise tax on flavored nicotine products. The bill would also raise Washington’s cigarette tax by nearly 65%, from $3.025 per pack to $5.00, with an additional 50-cent per pack surcharge on flavored cigarettes.
Once a tax becomes too punitive, it stops influencing the public’s habits and behavior and starts producing unintended consequences. SB 6129 would cross that line.
Look no further than the early results of Washington pushing its nicotine taxes into the highest tier nationally. The new 95% excise tax took hold on Jan. 1, and early reports already suggest that consumers are avoiding the higher rate by purchasing products in neighboring states such as Oregon and Idaho, where prices are significantly lower. Lawmakers thought this excise tax would increase state revenue, but by driving more sales out of Washington’s borders, it might ultimately reduce the tax money the state pulls in annually.
SB 6129 would make this problem worse. It would widen the price gap between Washington and surrounding states on cigarettes and flavored nicotine products — and it would still keep the non-cigarette nicotine options that are currently on store shelves at a counterproductively high tax rate.
Washington is already facing significant budget pressures. Every dollar SB 6129 loses the state treasury to cross-border purchases or illicit sales is one less dollar that the Legislature will have to invest in education, health care, and public safety, the very priorities lawmakers say these taxes are meant to support.
Worst of all, the Legislature does not appear to be considering the importance of encouraging harm reduction strategies.
While no nicotine use is risk-free, traditional cigarette alternatives, such as nicotine pouches, vapes, and other smokeless products, can significantly reduce exposure to the most dangerous toxins. And yet, by taxing many of these alternatives at rates equal to, or even higher than, traditional cigarettes, SB 6129 is not giving smokers much of an incentive to make the switch. That’s a massive public health mistake.
I don’t doubt that the sponsors of SB 6129 mean well. But good intentions don’t always lead to positive outcomes.
At this point, Washington has already captured the public health gains that come from raising tobacco taxes. Most of the remaining population of adult smokers is increasingly price-insensitive, which means that further tax hikes are far more likely to reduce legal sales and state revenue than to drive additional cessation.
The next phase of progress will not come from more taxation, but from building on Washington’s successful harm reduction strategies.
For example, the Washington State Quitline provides free telephone counseling, follow-up support, and nicotine replacement therapy to uninsured and underinsured residents, with evaluations showing that nearly 35% of participants were tobacco-free seven months after enrollment and that the program saves about $5 in health care and productivity costs for every $1 spent. The state’s Apple Health Medicaid Stop Smoking Program also offers no-cost counseling and cessation aids to eligible members, and community coalitions across counties deliver education and technical assistance supporting smoke-free norms.
To reduce smoking rates further, policymakers should build on these proven harm reduction and cessation programs and strategies by expanding them and increasing their annual funding allocations. This will ensure that every smoker who wants to quit has the tools and support they need to succeed — and it would do so without forming any new unintended consequences in the process.
Steve Kirby served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 2001 to 2022.
