The City of Chicago has some of the highest taxes on e-cigs and e-liquids in the country. The city collects 80 cents per vape device sold and 55 cents per millimeter of e-liquid. That seems excessive but Chicago is going to go higher.Much higher! If the latest proposal from City Hall is approved, the Chicago vape taxes will increase to $1.50 per device and $1.20 per millimeter of e-liquid.
The city is also proposing that all electronic cigarette products must be kept behind the counter. The impetus for the massive tax increase is to discourage minors from using tobacco products. Critics are concerned that making vapor products prohibitively expensive will drive people back to traditional tobacco cigarettes.
Ball State economist Erik Nesson said “I think this is definitely a concern! We don’t have a definitive answer on what the health effects of restrictions on e-cigarette use, through bans on their use in certain areas or through tax increases, might be.” Will this tax increase make cigarettes more appealing? A Yale study from 2015 indeed raises this concern.
Yale Study On E-cig Bans And Teen Smoking
A Yale study published in the Journal of Health Economics showed that increasing restrictions on e-cigarettes increases teen smoking rates. Study author Dr. Abigail Friedman said that increased restrictions /bans lead to more teenagers using conventional cigarettes than otherwise would have done so.