Taxing Alternative Nicotine in New York Is a Health Policy Buzzkill

Cigarettes have historically dominated the United States nicotine market, but much has changed over the last decade. With the introduction of vapes and oral pouches as alternatives to cigarettes, smoking rates have plummeted.

This is great news. But sadly, not all lawmakers are seizing this opportunity to use their taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. codes to encourage these dramatically safer alternatives—and both revenue and public health are suffering for it. As states grapple with how to tax the transforming tobacco and nicotine market, policymakers should carefully consider the tax mix they implement.

This debate is unfolding right now in New York. Just last month, Governor Kathy Hochul’s (D) budget called for broadening the Empire State’s pre-existing 75 percent wholesale tax on tobacco products to include all alternative nicotine products, adding a $0.55/unit tax on vapor atop the current 20 percent retail tax. She’s even aptly nicknamed this proposal the “ZYN tax.”