New York Times:
Mississippi's tax on cigarettes, at 18 cents a pack the nation's third-lowest, has not been raised since 1985. Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist, has long opposed an increase.
But this year, state lawmakers have gone from giving little thought to a tobacco tax increase to arguing over how much the tax should go up and where the money should go.
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
taxing cigarettes is patriotic
tax the industry to death
Seems appropriate as they're killing their consumers.
Make cigarettes as expensive as in europe, where a pack of marlboro costs 4EUR ( 5,20$).
it's pretty much there already, and even much greater in some cities.
They're $5.99 a pack in Montana, probably a lot more than that in N.Y. and New Jersey.
That is cheaper than cigarettes are in many parts of the country. Of course, here in Alabama cigarettes are still in the $3.50 range, last I checked; however, my grandparents did say (rather angrily) that apparently the taxes are about to go up another 60 cents a pack.
i have no problem with taxing the vile weed up the ying yang, but while we're at it, can we please legalize, regulate and tax marijuana? so many problems will be smoked away.
Taxation for a .d.e.a.t.h
People will just mail order them tax free... and the states will lose even MORE tax dollars!
LOL!
If every state raises their taxes then there will be no cheap states to order them from.
i don't think the tobacco growing states wouldn't go along.
What they're trying to is basically legalized highway robbery!
If you think that raising the tax on an addictive substance is "highway robbery", then you probably have some sort of dependence issue with said addictive substance.
Why don't they raise the tax on alcohol? I pay about a dollar more for Vodka that I did when I was twenty one. I would pay about 3.50 more for a pack if I still smoked. Give me a break, that's ridiculous. Booze kills much more people than alcohol does, and, they have better lobbyists.
On the backs of the poor again!
What is wrong with Mississippians anyway? They get what they deserve when they put crooks like Haley Barbour in office.
If we raise taxes on cigarettes, then we are riding on the backs of poor people.
If we lower taxes on cigarettes, then we are subsidizing the organized slaughter of poor people.
I guess you just can't win.
lowering taxes is not a subsidy.
There are few groups more discriminated against in our society than smokers. If states continue increasing taxes they will end up losing revenue because the trade will just move into the illegal realm, bypassing taxation altogether.
There is one group of people that is even more discriminated against than smokers: non-smokers.
In case you haven't been paying attention, the overhead involved in the illegal drug trade is very high. The proposed taxes on cigarettes are nowhere near what would be necessary to make illegal trade profitable.
"There is one group of people that is even more discriminated against than smokers: non-smoker
That is one of the most incredibly absurd statements I've ever heard.
Tobacco has been used for generations in many cultures for health cures. It is not the tobacco that is bad for your health. It is the carcinogens and pesticides that the government forces the tobacco growers to use on the products while growing the tobacco that is harmful. I am just hoping government is going to start putting pesticides and carcinogens in alcohol to do away with some of this alcoholics running the government!
I tend to agree with you. I don't believe tobacco is without dangers but what is killing people more than tobacco are all the poisons that come along with it.
Is anyone selling organic tobacco?
There are an increasing number of tobacco brands that do not include the additives found in the usual brands. No ammonia, cyanide, artificially boosted nicotine, etc that major tobacco companies have used to make their products more addictive.
How is the government "forcing" the tobacco companies to do this? Do you have any links to federal regulations where this practice is spelled out? Or is it just some sort of urban legend?
Indeed. If this were true don't you think tobacco companies would be screaming it from the rooftops rather than making up some fake argument about protecting the poor?
So government wants to tax cigarettes to fix their budgets but at the same time they're making more and more laws to remove smoking from their states. Once there are no more smokers, who are they gonna pillage for the money? I know they can start taxing food - that way the obese can pay more and become the next pariah that is legislated against. I dont even smoke and the insane anti-smoking stances strike me as crazy.
How about taxes (that are totally appropriate)
at LEAST to offset the MASSIVE burdens to our
already compromised health care system.
I do not want to cover others' cost for smoking.
Please list everything you do and eat.
I'm quite certain I'll find something that isn't good for your health and use the same claim against you. Why should I have to pay for your health care when you put whatever crap or did something I don't like.
You (or other smokers) should pay for choices you (or they) make.
I choose NOT to smoke and choose NOT to bear direct financial
responsibility for others choice to smoke.
Very Simple, WE (non smokers) are already paying
for the damage done by the choice to smoke
by high health care costs. Simple....
Not my bias or unfair - or remotely any for of discrimination
Just my choice NOT to do harm to my body (or others)
Re: I speak as a health care practitioner. . . life long.
I have seen emphysema, lung cancer and heart disease
f i r s t - h a n d. I except other LACK of understanding.
Add JACK those taxes up baby!
As a smoker, I'm sick to death of this tired, over-used and inaccurate argument.
The FACTS are that obesity is costing the health care system way more than smokers. If "punishment" taxes should be imposed based on health care costs, then the appropriate tax should be Fat Taxes on fast food, soda products, candy, snack foods, etc.
Why should smokers constantly be paying the price for FAT peoples' health problems?
Yeah, I said it: fat, fat, FAT. Fat, out-of-control, no will power fat people are causing the problems. Stop blaming everything on smokers.
Nobody is blaming "everything" on smokers. Smoking is the source of much of the world's misery, though. It destroys families and produces orphans. Your quest for a buzz does not justify all this suffering and misery.
You do realize that smokers cost less because they die younger.
They cost more because they stop paying taxes, they stop earning money, and they leave behind dependent children that need to be cared for.
And they also run up big medical bills before they die.
People who die of old age in their beds are much less of a burden on society than someone who dies of cancer in their 40s and leaves behind an at-home wife, dependent children, and a big unpaid mortgage.
Why don't we all just admit to the obvious
http://www
What happens when they tax cigarettes to the pont the Gov't starts to loose tax revenues on cigarettes cuase everyone has Quit?
They raise taxes on some other product such a soda and coffee because of the cafeen.
Smoking is bad for your health. If raising the tax on tobacco deter people from smoking, then by all means we should do it.
Why not ban it outright? I mean if it's that bad for you, why allow it at all?
It's all about the money. The excuse that they are raising taxes because it's a deterrent is a crock.
You're right, hey let's tax alcohol sky high as well that isn't good for you. Tell you what let's not stop there, we can go through the grocery store and tax the h-ll out of everything that is found to contain something that isn't good for you. Anything with a fat content over 0, you know we are a nation of obese people. That isn't good for your health either, so let's tax it.
See where I'm going with this? In an age of processed food, crap in our water including bottle water, smoking is the thing that's bad for your health. Ok, right.
Do tell where the money comes from once you no longer can rely on the smokers paying your way? What gets taxed then?
Obesity is worse than smoking for your health. I don't see anyone policing and taxing fat people for the big-macs and fries they're eating.
Legalize pot and prostitution and collect taxes on those activities
I like increased taxes on tobacco. It's like a (negative) IQ test, as is the government-run lottery. We get those who are too dumb to know better than to behave responsibly to pay our taxes for us. Most of them are the same people who say they can't afford to get along, go to the dentist, etc.
I continue to be amazed at how many people who say they have no money spend a lot on tattoos, too.
Let's do more of this.
Loading comments…
First Posted: 03-21-09 11:33 AM | Updated: 04-21-09 05:12 AM