All states prohibit the sale of tobacco products to minors. Twenty-three states and D.C. may suspend or revoke a retail tobacco products license for violation of youth access laws, an increase of 11 states since the 1995 report. Forty-one states and D.C. have restrictions on cigarette vending machines. Nineteen states and D.C. meet the Healthy People 2000 objective to ban cigarette vending machines in areas accessible to minors, an increase of eight states since the 1995 report. Only 13 states have legislation that restricts the advertising and promotion of tobacco products.
All states have an excise tax on cigarettes.
A Healthy People 2000 objective is to increase combined state and federal tobacco excise taxes to at least 50 percent of the average retail price of all cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. Only 42 states have an excise tax on smokeless tobacco products, and many tax these products at a per-pack rate much lower than that for cigarettes. Six states have passed preemptive laws since the 1995 report. Of these, Indiana and Maine did not have previous preemptive laws in any area tracked in the report. However, Maine repealed its preemptive law as of June 1997.