In Texas, the legal age to purchase cigarettes is 21 years old, conforming to the federal Tobacco 21 law. Cigarette taxes, applied by state and federal governments, are intended to reduce smoking rates, with the average state tax being $1.69 per pack and federal tax being $1.01 as of 2014.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Texas, the legal age to purchase cigarettes is 21 years old. This age restriction is in line with the federal Tobacco 21 law, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products, including cigarettes, to anyone under the age of 21. These laws aim to prevent the health risks associated with smoking by limiting access to tobacco products to younger individuals. Cigarette taxes, often referred to as "sin taxes," are applied to cigarettes by both state and federal governments as a measure to discourage smoking. For example, the average state cigarette tax is $1.69 per pack, and a federal tax rate on cigarettes was $1.01 per pack in 2014. There has been discussion about increasing the federal tax to further reduce cigarette consumption. Economic studies often explore the correlation between tax rates and the decline in cigarette purchases, raising the question of how much cigarette consumption decreases as a result of tax hikes.