Cigarette Tax Hike Makes New York Most Expensive In Nation

nydailynews.com:

The Legislature on Monday night narrowly approved boosting the state's tax on cigarettes by an additional $1.60 - to a national-high $4.35 a pack. That's $6.85 with city and federal levies.

The tax hike came as part of an emergency spending plan to keep New York government running for another week.

Read the whole story: nydailynews.com

Comments

[GordonNYC]

02:25 AM on 07/06/2010

I can't help but think about all the poor people in the city that this will affect. I know a local Deli worker named Santo who has to support a family of 3 children and I always see him standing outside the store smoking. It could be 30 below zero and I always see him standing outside stressed out and smoking.
I dont think that guy is ever going to quit! He already knows you think it's bad for him.
I think you just decreased his familys money and added alot of stress to his already struggling life. That can't translate into good times at home for him or in the community for us. This guy would rightfully vote for bozo in the future if he also promises to reduce taxes. It's never been a good idea to scapegoat anyone even if you despise their behavior. Besides don't you have a Right to do what you want with your body. Can they force you to eat if you don't want to.

[rothenbj]

09:03 PM on 06/25/2010

It's a simple case of demographics. Politicians can get away with taxing cigarettes to raise money because there aren't enough smokers to keep them out of office. If they passed a tax on beer that would raise the price to $11 a can (pretty equivalent to how they tax cigarettes when you consider tobacco MSA, taxes paid by the tobacco industry built into their costs, federal, state and local taxes), there wouldn't be a politician that voted for the bill re-elected.

True death to political careers. However, the smoker has no power thus they have become the unprotected minority. Now if every smoker agreed to get to the polls in November and vote as a block against every, every politician that passed these tax increases you might see a change in direction. However, that isn't likely to happen.

Incidentally, I'm an ex-smoker. However, I'm not like these righteously, bigoted ones that now think they're better than those that haven't quit. These people should remember that if they end up getting a smoker related disease, they WILL be included in the smoker's section of the annual report. Also for you self righteous never smokers, I have news for you, you're gonna die of something. It may take longer, but that only increases your burden on society in social security taxes, possibly elder care and more than likely as much, if not more, health cost. Getting old is expensive no matter how you look at it.

[Jced]

08:07 AM on 06/24/2010

Alcohol is very highly taxed, if things get to expensive...CHOOSE not to do them.

[dsdem]

03:38 AM on 06/25/2010

I see people nearly daily (at least several times a week) who are so poor, disadvantaged, and unfortunate that they have to have the state pay for all of their medical expenses.... while they drive around in hummers, lexus and cadillacs with all the personal and material acoutrements like $2-3k rims, gold and jewels wrapped around every protuberance, morbidly obese smokers (with hypertension, asthma, and diabetes), etc, etc, etc. Why exhibit personal, responsible choice when our society allows this type of behavior to flourish (at the tax payer's expense)?

[Jced]

08:06 AM on 06/24/2010

All sin taxes should be federal! Nothing costs more to the tax payers than smoking!

[Sharon1951]

11:06 AM on 06/25/2010

BS. Do your homework, and think outside the box a little. Excessive drinking costs this country FAR more than smoking. Billions in incarceration for crimes committed under the influence, social services for domestic violence and child abuse, medical care for the revolving door of detox and rehabilitation, and the innumerable medical problems caused by alcohol, DUI accidents, which increase the cost of my insurance, your insurance, everyone's insurance. . . I could go on and on, but I have a feeling you may have passed out on me.

[Jced]

08:03 AM on 06/24/2010

I am a sinner!!! I drink, gamble, eat junk food etc,etc,etc!!! Tax it,tax it tax it, ALL. These are things of which I have a Choice to do or not do...all sin tax is good, especially for nasty cigarettes, that cost taxpayers tons of money as a result. TAX IT!!!

[GordonNYC]

02:42 AM on 07/06/2010

"I am a sinner!!!..These are things of which I have a Choice to do or not do..." That's not true, if you tax sinners like yourself progressively higher taxes, then eventually you won't have a choice. I'm sure I can make better choices for you than you can for yourself.

[sparky73]

01:21 PM on 06/23/2010

I think its great news. Kids won't pick up the nasty habit because they can't afford it. Congrats NY!

[slaxx]

01:50 PM on 06/23/2010

that's laughable. kids who have no bills, no responsibilities, and too much time and money on their hands do not care about the cost.

[sparky73]

02:02 PM on 06/23/2010

whats laughable is they have no income as well.

[Gregor53]

03:29 PM on 06/23/2010

I do not know, but what if Weed is cheaper? Just a thought.

[unpleasantville]

04:51 PM on 06/23/2010

Weed won't kill you.

[SCVADem]

09:37 AM on 06/23/2010

Great, just great. Now more cigarette stores are going to get robbed in other states (it's especially high here in Virginia) so they can be taken back and sold on the black market in NY.

[topkatnc]

09:49 AM on 06/23/2010

Know what you mean .. it happens in N.C. all the time .. you can get a pack for about $3.48 here ..

[DominickA]

02:31 AM on 06/23/2010

Makes me so angry. It's just the easiest thing for the government to do. Smokers like me are already paying for whatever costs to society our eventual deaths by lung cancer will cost (and not all smokers get lung cancer; consider asia). If all smokers quit smoking, we'd die a more expensive death (by another form of cancer, most likely). It's just all so wrong-headed. As far as smoking outside, the public health people would have us believe that second hand smoke in the ambient air could cause a non-smoker to eventually cause cancer. It's BS. Of course, non-smokers don't like the smell, so smokers shouldn't smoke where the smoke can't be easily avoided, imho, but that's quite different than banning smoking on entire pieces of property. What's not mentioned is that the govt has now made it illegal for smokers to buy cigarettes through the internet so as to force smokers to pay the tax. There will be a black market, the profits for which may be going to people that we might not want to have it. What should have been done years ago, imho, was the banning of all advertisement.

[Sharon1951]

07:04 AM on 06/23/2010

We are not only paying for the costs of our own deaths, we are subsidizing alcoholics, drug addicts and the morbidly obese. Once again, I ask, when will they raise the taxes on booze, junk food and fast food. The social cost of excessive drinking far outweighs the cost of smoking. Domestic violence, incarceration for all kinds of offenses, drunk driving deaths and accidents, child abuse -- it goes on and on. Fast food and junk food are and will continue to place a huge burden on our health care system. If we legalized drugs and taxed them, we could wipe out the national debt. But I never hear about any proposed new taxes on these things. It's discrimination based on the easiest target, and of course, our legislators like their scotch and whiskey. They're not about to let that be messed with.

[slaxx]

01:48 PM on 06/23/2010

exactly. tax the smokers because it will have the least blowback from the general public, who think its a nasty, low-class habit to begin with and who will just say that it's for your own good anyway and you should just quit.

[dsdem]

01:25 AM on 06/23/2010

I approve of this legislation. Make them $100 per pack. Drive the tobacco companies out of business and save some lives. -ex-smoker

[sparky73]

01:21 PM on 06/23/2010

fanned!

[Sharon1951]

07:37 AM on 06/24/2010

There's no fanatic like a convert.

[slaxx]

01:17 AM on 06/23/2010

b.s. and when those smokers do quit or more likely get their cigs from out-of-state - that will mean less tax revenue for the state and it evens out. i smell a hge black market for cigs developing in NY.

imo this is completely excessive. people p.i.s.s and moan about a two cent soda tax but its okay to tax smokers - who are addicted and have no alternative - to death.

[sparky73]

01:23 PM on 06/23/2010

you sound just like a republcan. They argue that high state taxes on business creates situations where the companies move to a different state.

[slaxx]

01:51 PM on 06/23/2010

people already engage in actions to get around the tax and there already is a black market for cigarettes in NY. it's just going to get bigger.

[mikeodd]

12:28 AM on 06/23/2010

Criminalize and harrass smokers but approve a 192-proof alcoholic beverage? Albany -always a model of consistency!

[Sharon1951]

07:12 AM on 06/23/2010

My sentiments exactly. Please see post above.

[Billie]

10:49 PM on 06/22/2010

Whether it's cigarettes or something else, the way I see it is that this 'we-know-what's-best-for-you attitude lies at the heart of totalitarianism.

[Sharon1951]

07:31 AM on 06/24/2010

Fanned! And these are the same people who are always screaming about keeping government out of our lives. If I choose to kill myself with tobacco, that's my business. I hereby swear NOT to use the health care system for any smoking-related disease. Now, all you drinkers and junk food addicts do the same. Deal?

[Syrlinus]

09:03 PM on 06/22/2010

Here's an interesting thought: the more smokers you tax, the less that will smoke and thus, less tax revenue is earned. And this helps the NY State Deficit how?! If you're going to do a SIN tax (e.g., fast food, cigarettes and other tobacco products, alcohol, etc.), you have to balance this enough to ensure that those that want it will continue to use it but that you protect against those in the future who you don't necessarily want to use it.

As an adult, I should be able to enjoy a cigar now and then without having to mortgage a house much like enjoying a decent beer or whiskey with it. While I'm not interested in smoking around kids, I think I should be able to enjoy it around those who share in this enjoyment.

[Nick Mroz]

10:33 PM on 06/22/2010

That was my problem with them raising the tax for SCHIP. It was idiotic.

[shpost]

08:59 PM on 06/22/2010

this is totally getting out of hand

[Mondayboy]

06:12 PM on 06/22/2010

I drink water, smoke my own homegrown weed and drink my homemade beer and bootlegged whisky and stuff....that way I avoid all taxes and feel like I am in the South even though I live in Boston :)

[topkatnc]

09:42 AM on 06/23/2010

Well come on down anytime for a visit !!!

[Gregor53]

03:34 PM on 06/23/2010

All this taxation protests began in Boston didn't it? All over tea and not tobacco and alcohol. Now I know why the Founding Fathers believed normal citizens could defeat the professional British Army. That beer will make even a passive person attack a huge gorilla.