Fifty years after the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health was released, about one in five Americans are still smokers.

While that is certainly an improvement from nearly one in two people ”“ in 1964, the national smoking rate was 42 percent ”“ 20 percent is still way too high. When 60 million people are participating in an activity that leads to horrible diseases and death, and can have the same impact on their family and those who live with them, drastic measures need to be taken.

Warning labels don’t seem to be doing the trick, nor do high cigarette taxes, nor does free smoking cessation, nor does making smoking in public places and workplaces illegal, and tobacco companies know all of this. That is why they agreed to pay 46 states in perpetuity so state governments could cover their tobacco-related health care costs.

A fund for the agreement was established in 1999, a year after the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, and the largest U.S. tobacco companies agreed to pay a minimum of $206 billion over the first 25 years of the agreement.

That says a lot about how huge the tobacco industry is, how profitable it is and how addictive smoking really is.

It is clear that more needs to be done, and the best way to prevent people from smoking is to keep them from ever starting.

Raising the tobacco tax has proven to reduce numbers of young people smoking, because they cannot afford the cigarettes.

In Maine, the state has had an aggressive strategy of increasing the cigarette tax over the last decade, said Becky Smith, the Maine director of government relations for the American Heart Association, in an interview with the Journal Tribune. But the tax hasn’t increased since 2005, and has remained at $2. With the exception of neighboring New Hampshire, Maine has the lowest tax rate on cigarettes in New England, according to Smith.

Another major issue is that tobacco products that are attractive to youth are not taxed at the same level as cigarettes; products like little cigars and e-cigarettes have lower taxes, making them more affordable and attractive to youth, according to Smith. Some of these tobacco products even come in fruit flavors that appeal to young people, she said.

Both the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association in Maine have been trying to get these changes made for years, but the Maine Legislature has not done its part.

It’s time to raise the cigarette tax in Maine again and bring parity to all tobacco products, as each is equally detrimental to one’s health. The Legislature needs to be on board with such changes to reduce the number of young people who smoke ”“ now at 15 percent in Maine ”“ as well as the overall number of smokers in this state.

State Rep. Megan Rochelo, D-Biddeford, told the Journal Tribune that, in recent years, state government has raided the Fund for a Healthy Maine, which is intended to fund smoking prevention and other health programs, to balance its budget.

Rochelo has submitted a bill, LD 1719, this session that would put more money into smoking prevention and health promotion programs. The funding for her bill would come from a one-time settlement with tobacco companies that will award Maine $5 million, said Rochelo.

While that would be a great boost to such programs, it’s also important that the state use the money from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement for prevention and cessation programs as well. Using these funds to balance the budget is not acceptable, and they need to go toward preventing smoking and helping Mainers who already smoke to quit, which will save the state much more than it’s taking from the fund in the long run.

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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham Rousseau on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at [email protected].