Is There a Way to Get People to Switch to a Dirtier Cigarette?

Tax increases on cigarettes do encourage some people to quit smoking. But the price increase also leads committed smokers, those who weren't going to quit, to maximize each cigarette. That's a perverse effect of cigarette taxes, encouraging behavior that actively harms smoker's health. Currently, 30 states and the district of columbia levy a tax on e cigarette sales in 20 20. If that tax had gone into place, that would have increased the number of smokers in the united States by one percentage point.