Cigarette Sales Increasing in Maine

Mal Leary Reporting

AUGUSTA, Maine- For the first time in years, cigarette sales in Maine are up as measured by the sale of the tax stamps that must be on every pack sold in the state. Tax stamp sales were up five percent over the first six months of this year.

No one at Maine Revenue Services can remember when they last saw an increase in cigarette sales. Year after year it has been a reduction in sales of a few percent.

Ed Miller is Vice President of the New England Chapter of the American Lung Association. Miller says smoking remains a major health concern and the state should consider higher taxes to discourage smoking. Maine CDC Director, Dr. Dora Mills, says the apparent increase in smoking is a “wake up call” that the public health community needs to recognize.