‘Build Back Deader’ with Democrats’ vape tax

As a candidate last year, President Joe Biden famously promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. In reality, the massive spending bill under consideration by Democrats in Congress would indeed hike taxes on a bunch of poor and middle-class people.

The $1.75 trillion-with-a-T “Build Back Better” package is a laundry list of Democratic policy priorities, mostly to spend more money. The bill was approved by the U.S. House this month with one Iowa Democrat in support and three Iowa Republicans opposed.

Not content to just spend more money, though, Democrats are using the legislation to weaponize taxation in their misguided war against adults trying to quit smoking.

The trade-off here is turning away a few young e-cigarette users while keeping perhaps millions of adults stuck on cigarettes, the deadliest consumer product ever bought and sold by humans.

Tucked inside Build Back Better is a measure to impose a double-digit federal tax on non-combustible nicotine such as e-cigarettes and pouches. Vaping advocates say the price of a small bottle of high-strength e-cigarette liquid, for example, would more than double from about $17 to about $37.

That is a staggering price hike and it undoubtedly will push some people who transitioned from cigarettes to vapes to switch back, and deter others from switching in the first place. People will die because of it.

Drafters initially set out to raise taxes on both combustible cigarettes and alternative nicotine products but in the federal legislature’s infinite wisdom, they eliminated the tax hike on deadly cigarettes and kept the tax hike on much safer replacements.

There has been a bipartisan crusade the past few years against the so-called “youth vaping epidemic.” Problem is, the epidemic has been overblown. Most people who use e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches are adults.

The latest youth vaping data in Iowa is from 2018, showing “current use” of e-cigarettes for Iowa students was 11 percent. That might sound startling but it includes everyone who tried a vape even one time in the 30 days before the survey. Daily vape users were just 2 percent of survey respondents.

Data from other states show youth vaping rates have declined since 2018. What’s more, youth tobacco use remains at historic lows, suggesting the vape-to-cigarette gateway effect is overstated at best.

The trade-off here is turning away a few young e-cigarette users while keeping perhaps millions of adults stuck on cigarettes, the deadliest consumer product ever bought and sold by humans.

“That benefit comes at a steep public health cost, however: The tax will increase cigarette smoking among adults — and quite possibly teenagers, too,” Kenneth Warner, public health professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, wrote in a recent Washington Post op-ed.

E-cigarettes have not been approved by the federal government as smoking cessation tools but some research indicates they may be more effective than government-approved patches and gums. E-cigarettes are known to contain far fewer toxins and carcinogens than cigarettes.

The nicotine tax in Build Back Better isn’t expected to bring in much money — not that Democrats care anyway, since their proposals pay for themselves through magic.

This is not a revenue generator, it is a bald attempt to alter Americans’ behavior through tax policy, also known as a “sin tax.” But the sin Democrats are trying to snuff out (vaping) is much more manageable than its substitute (smoking).

(319) 339-3156; adam.sullivan@thegazette.com