Background Douglas M. Duncan (File Photo) • Legal loophole gave birth to Duncan's tobacco tax proposal.

By John P. Martin
Washingtonpost.com Writer
Thursday, May 7, 1998; 7 p.m. EDT

Montgomery County officials today predicted easy passage for a proposed tax on smokeless tobacco and cigars that could mean higher prices for users and, they hope, lower use among minors.

The county would be the first municipality statewide to impose such a tax, which would add 36 cents to packs of cigars and smokeless tobacco. County Executive Douglas M. Duncan said it would withstand any legal challenge.

"The county attorney feels that we’re on very solid legal ground," Duncan said during an afternoon news conference at Sandy Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, where he was flanked by county and health officials and anti-tobacco advocates.

Council President Isiah Leggett (D-At Large) the tax could pass the full council by mid-summer and take effect as early as September. Neither he nor other council members envisioned any serious opposition to the measure.

Officials say the tax would generate at least $250,000 for tobacco education programs and more enforcement against merchants who sell it to minors.

Duncan estimated spending $140,000 on administration of the tax and enforcement of the statute with the rest spent to teach children about the effects of tobacco use. He also has proposed authorizing the county’s board of liquor license commissioners to enforce the tobacco sales statutes. Beginning in July, the board will hire youths who’ll test compliance laws by trying to buy tobacco at all 900 retailers countywide.

Enforcement has traditionally fallen to police. But, Duncan said, "the concern is, they weren’t doing enough of it."

Officials haven’t collected data on underage tobacco and cigar use in Montgomery County. But they pointed to national studies suggesting that one in five high school males uses smokeless tobacco and that cigar use — buoyed by the popularity of bars, magazines and events devoted to cigars — is rising among teens.

"Plain and simple, this legislation is about saving lives," Duncan said as he held up cans of cherry and mint flavored smokeless tobacco. "This is Joe Camel in a box, in a tin can."

Surrounding him in the hospital’s pediatric emergency center were health officials and advocates who praised the proposal. Among them was State Sen. Christopher Van Hollen (D-Montgomery), whose legislation to impose a similar tax statewide failed for the fourth time this spring.

Maryland is one of six states that do not impose taxes on smokeless tobacco or cigars.

"States that do not are paying the price, both in lost lives and lost revenues," said Dr. Michele Bloch of Rockville, a director for Smoke Free Maryland, an advocacy group.

Vincent DeMarco, executive director of the Maryland Children’s Initiative, said that after the state bill failed, his organization looked for a county whose charter doesn’t prevent them from imposing such a tax. Montgomery County was one of the few, DeMarco said.

Baltimore is also considering such a proposal, he said. But his focus today was a little south.

"I love Montgomery County!" DeMarco beamed, sporting a "Kiss Me, I Don’t Smoke" sticker on his lapel. "You are taking the lead in something that is very important."