A new report from the CDC Foundation says Indiana’s 2025 cigarette tax increase is already leading to a significant drop in tobacco sales across the state.
The report, prepared by Economics for Health, analyzed retail sales data following Indiana’s $2 per pack cigarette tax increase, which took effect July 1, 2025.
Researchers estimate that approximately 12.6 million fewer packs of cigarettes were sold during the final six months of 2025 compared to previous trends. The report also found e-cigarette sales dropped an estimated 8.3 percent during the same period.
Health advocates say the decline is an encouraging sign that higher tobacco taxes are helping reduce nicotine addiction and improve public health outcomes.
“The American Heart Association is committed to bringing health and hope to everyone everywhere, which includes protecting youth from the burdens of tobacco and nicotine addiction as well as helping adult smokers quit,” said Christina Cesnik, Indiana Government Relations Director for the American Heart Association.
Cesnik said strategies such as tobacco tax increases, along with prevention and smoking cessation programs, have repeatedly proven effective at reducing tobacco use.
She added that lower tobacco use could ultimately lead to fewer heart attacks and chronic health conditions linked to smoking and nicotine addiction.
1 comment
We should be more worried about what they’re putting in our foods for our health rather than worrying about cigarettes that is a choice personal choice that our food chain is not a choice. It’s forced Americans take convenience over their health, but then they want to tax everything that’s bad for it give me a break.