By Ava Chatlosh, Las Vegas Sun
July 10, 2026- The Nevada Tobacco Control & Smoke-free Coalition is urging state lawmakers to raise the cigarette tax, arguing that an increase would drive down smoking rates after a decade without one.
Jennifer Atlas, government relations director for the American Cancer Society Action Network and a member of the coalition, on Wednesday recommended a $1.75-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes to Nevada’s Joint Interim Committee on Revenue. She also suggested raising the tax on other tobacco products from 30% to 47%.
The coalition also wants a portion of that revenue directed toward sustainable funding for tobacco control, relief and cessation programs — an area it says Nevada has neglected.
“Today, we’re generating significant tobacco revenue but investing very little into helping people quit or preventing youth from starting,” Atlas said.
Nevada’s current $1.80 tax on a pack of cigarettes generated $147 million in 2025, according to the federal reserve. The rate that hasn’t budged since 2015.
Nearly 22% of Nevada adults use tobacco, and Nevadans spend $1.25 billion each year on smoking-related healthcare costs, the coalition said.
The coalition estimates the proposed cigarette tax hike would generate an additional $51 million in annual revenue, while increases to other tobacco products would bring in $14.6 million more.
The state ranks 46th nationally in funding for tobacco prevention and cessation. Nevada spends roughly $966,000 a year on state-funded tobacco prevention and control programs, meeting just 3.2% of the $30 million the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for such efforts.
The coalition projects its proposed reforms would cut youth smoking by 12% and reduce the number of adult smokers by more than 11,000.
“Do we want to tell our grandchildren and their grandchildren that we had a chance to stop them from using tobacco and we didn’t because we were afraid of decreased income?” said Lisa Sheretz, the coalition’s president. “The back door cost of tobacco use, let alone the human cost of struggling with an addiction, is too much.”
State Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, said the committee could revisit the tobacco tax as early as August.
