Posted on 07/23/2002 2:36:55 PM PDT by SheLion
DENVER (Reuters) - Tax hikes on cigarettes imposed recently by states and cities across the United States are not only filling coffers but are also proving to be a strong deterrent to smoking, an anti-tobacco group said on Monday.
"In several states, consumption declined 20% or more and new revenues in the millions of dollars were still realized," the Smokeless States National Tobacco Policy Initiative said in a study to be presented at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting in Denver.
New York City led the way with a $1.42 tax hike that put cigarettes at $7, but less drastic increases also produce healthy results, the groups found in its study.
An increase in the price of cigarettes of only 10% reduces cigarette consumption among teens by 7%, the study said. The anti-tobacco group argues that higher taxes will keep teens from smoking, resulting in fewer deaths from tobacco-related illnesses and reductions in future healthcare costs.
Four states passed higher cigarette taxes last year, and 16 states plus Puerto Rico have increased their tax since January of this year.
The anti-tobacco group is a program established by the American Medical Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
State lawmakers will also be told that crossing a state line for a cheaper pack of cigarettes only accounts for one percent of all smuggling and that two-thirds of all cigarettes sold in the United States are sold as single packs.
If smoking is down, how then, are they "filling state coffers?!"
Same old song and dance! We smokers pay MORE then our fair share of healthcare costs, IF we have any!
If you buy on-line or roll your own and smoke them in the AC comfort of your own home, how the heck to the State Idiots know anything??
Especially if they are basing their numbers on revenue numbers.
The only "negative effect" is: smokers are fed up. Smokers have gone to the Net, to the Reservations, across state lines AND to rolling our own so we do not pay into the state coffers anymore.
I knew that the minute the states weren't realizing the big cash cow from raising cigarette taxes, they would claim that "smokers have dropped off." This is not true.
We have found cheaper ways, and we do not pay into the state coffers any longer.
Exactly, Rika. They aren't realizing the huge cash cow from the increase in cigarette taxes, so they say "Smokers are dropping off." Well, excuse ME! LOL
Not according to my Puff List. Stick around. Ask any of the conservative smokers in here. We have all gone to other means of smoking and saving money.
Bull-oney. People are increasingly buying from the reservations or off the net.
LOL!
Did too, did too, did too.
facedown, I KNEW the minute the states weren't pulling in the huge bucks when they raised the taxes, they would contribute it to smokers dropping off. This is not true.
Many of us buy off the Net, or the Reservations, or roll our owns and some travel over state lines. That would scare me. I would be the one to get caught.
But smokers haven't dropped off. They are dreaming!
You and me both! LOL
I prefer the privacy and semi-anonymity of my monitor screen.
I knew you could...
LOL! That's a good one! Thank you!!
Well, the lawmakers sure have no guilt everytime they ban, try to control, restrict and raise taxes on a legal commodity. They want to make adults who choose to smoke carry the weight of the state on their backs. We are working to stop this harassment.
Tax hikes on cigarettes imposed recently by states and cities across the United States are not only filling coffers but are also proving to be a strong deterrent to smoking, an anti-tobacco group said on Monday.
I doubt that's true. But this would work: We the people should tax politicians and bureaucrats out of existence. Then use the tax revenues for promoting only candidates that will repeal at least two hundred laws for each new law they pass.
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