To the Editor: Since 1998, US cigarette sales have declined by approximately 2% per year.1,2 We assessed whether recent declines may be offset in part by an increase in use of other tobacco products.
Taxable removals (actual sales) of cigarettes (including bidis), small cigars, and roll-your-own tobacco were obtained from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau3 and for moist snuff from the US Department of Agriculture4 for years 2000 through 2007 based on monthly and quarterly filings by the tobacco companies, respectively. State and federal tax rates and weighted mean cigarette prices were obtained from The Tax Burden on Tobacco.2