A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago found that in the first 60 days following a 2009 federal tobacco tax, at least 220,000 young people were prevented from using tobacco. The research, which was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Cancer Institute, demonstrates the substantial and immediate impact of the tobacco tax on reducing youth smoking and youth smokeless tobacco rates.

NewPublicHealth spoke with study co-author Frank J. Chaloupka, PhD, distinguished professor in the division of Health Policy and Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.