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Study Says State Cigarette Taxes Deter Smoking/I KNEW THEY WOULD SAY THIS!
Yahoo News ^ | 23 July 2002

Posted on 07/23/2002 2:36:55 PM PDT by SheLion

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To: facedown
Is it legal to buy over the net?

And is the loose tobacco actually not taxable?

What about growing your own?

I am not a smoker, my husband is. Actually, I wish smokers would go on the wagon for a month. Like I said, I may be naive - but I wish the public would actually see how much money the smokers pay.

21 posted on 07/23/2002 3:12:21 PM PDT by nanny
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To: Zon
We the people should tax politicians and bureaucrats out of existence.

I'm with YOU. Even a lot of conservative politicians have turned RINO. It's mind boggling.

22 posted on 07/23/2002 3:14:56 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: SheLion
An increase in the price of cigarettes of only 10% reduces cigarette consumption among teens by 7%,

So, assuming a linear function, then, a rate of 100% teens NOT smoking would require a tax increase of 143%. Assuming a current price of $4.00/pack, then 143% would mean a price of $9.72/pack.

23 posted on 07/23/2002 3:15:52 PM PDT by 45Auto
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To: nanny
Is it legal to buy over the net?
And is the loose tobacco actually not taxable?
What about growing your own?

It's legal to buy over the net. Make sure the owner of the site isn't one that turns in his list of customers to the IRS. Some do, most do not.

Loose tobacco is only charged surcharge. We buy a bag of tobacco here for $5.75, which makes a carton of cigarettes.

A lot of people are getting into growing their own. I am not sure how big of a plot your allowed. Some in here would know for sure.

24 posted on 07/23/2002 3:17:25 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: 45Auto
"They" make NO sense at all. They think we are all stupid out here.
25 posted on 07/23/2002 3:18:16 PM PDT by SheLion
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Politicians are idiots...Not withstanding this ridiculous further taxation of cig's, look what CA just did to the NATION! By passing that damn "clean air" crap bill on SUV's and the likes, across the nation we are all going to pay higher amounts for vehicles that CA has seemingly targeted. You didn't really think Detroit was gonna make SUV's served up special for CA did you? Hell no, their gonna spread load the prices across all the states. Thank you CA.

< /rant off> Going to smoke a cig now...

26 posted on 07/23/2002 3:20:15 PM PDT by Michael Barnes
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To: nanny
Is it legal to buy over the net?

Sure! No different than buying books or CD's or whatever.

And is the loose tobacco actually not taxable?

Depends on where you buy it - if from an Indian reservation, then no.

What about growing your own?

Very difficult, not so much just growing the plant but the curing, processing, etc.

If you (or he) want to look into the net go here

27 posted on 07/23/2002 3:20:35 PM PDT by facedown
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To: SheLion
"Despite millions of dollars in spending for anti-smoking campaigns, more adults and teens are smoking now than in the early 1990s. In 1991, 28 percent of high school age teen-agers said they had smoked in the past month. By 1997, the most recent figures available, that number jumped to 36 percent. And young adults aren't doing much better. Smoking among 18 to 24 year-olds has increased from 25 percent in 1990 to 29 percent in 1997. [Cable News Network, November 18, 1999]

Even the folks most responsible for stealing your money admits their programs are a failure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that more high school students are taking up smoking, despite stepped-up antismoking campaigns. Their figures show that the number of high school students who smoke rose by nearly a third over the last 6 years. The number of first-time teenage smokers has risen 73 percent in the 1990s, according to the CDC, topping 1 million a year.

Despite government-funded campaigns to stop cigarette smoking in Canada, the number of teenaged smokers rose to 28.3 percent in 1999 from 23.8 per cent six years ago. [The Toronto Star, Nov. 16, 1999]

After Finland, Sweden, Norway and Australia banned tobacco and cigarette advertising, teen smoking rates either increased or stayed the same -- as youngsters rebelled against what they saw as restrictions on their independence. "We're losing ground in the battle to protect our children," Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala said. "There is no excuse for delay. Congress must act promptly to enact comprehensive tobacco control legislation to protect our children."

They simply don't get enough of your money already ... they want MORE! Never mind their programs don't work and that higher taxes won't curb smoking, they just want more of your money. President Clinton outlined what they want... he said that states and the federal government need to raise funds to help pay for smoking-related medical fees, health research and anti-smoking campaigns. In other words, More government, more government, and more government."

28 posted on 07/23/2002 3:23:27 PM PDT by 45Auto
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To: TomGuy
I can get their brand, comparable to Marlboro, for under $18 a carton,

Considering that a carton used to cost $2, back when gasoline was $.29 a gallon, perhaps we should consider decriminalizing tobacco. Let everybody grow their own.

29 posted on 07/23/2002 3:24:12 PM PDT by RightWhale
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To: unix
I hate to get off the issue: but we, too, drive an SUV. I am outraged over what Davis signed. The rest of the US will follow, you watch.

They need to get Davis out of office. He isn't doing anyone any good.

He is so hateful.

30 posted on 07/23/2002 3:27:17 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: 45Auto
President Clinton outlined what they want... he said that states and the federal government need to raise funds to help pay for smoking-related medical fees, health research and anti-smoking campaigns. In other words, More government, more government, and more government."

This mess and all the messes were started with Klintoon over the 8 years we had to put up with him in office.

While he smoked big stogies, and worse, he stuck it to the smokers out here. And all the Klintoon Lap Dogs thought he was just the greatest.

Should I barf now or wait!

31 posted on 07/23/2002 3:31:37 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: BlessingInDisguise
When they began paying for your healthcare they took out a lein on your body. Keep in mind that licensing your doctor, regulating your hospital and certifying the drugs your doctor prescribes all come under the heading of "paying for your healthcare".

Your nannie-state knows what's best and will do all that a good parent should to control her wayward children. If the law saw you and all of us as responsible adults capable of making our own decisions (even if they were as disasterous as deciding to smoke that vile crap, but then that's only my opinion)then most of the governmental contruct now existing would have no purpose. Maybe we need a Constitution

32 posted on 07/23/2002 4:10:07 PM PDT by muir_redwoods
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To: SheLion
Profits high, chances of getting caught low in the business of contraband cigarettes

Monday, July 28, 1997 By Peter Moon The Globe and Mail

The federal government's sustained attack against the smuggling of contraband cigarettes into Canada has created a new multimillion-dollar crime problem. Many smugglers are switching from international to interprovincial smuggling of cigarettes because the profits are high, the chances of getting caught are low, and even if they are caught the likelihood of going to prison is minimal.

"Interprovincial smuggling is costing millions and millions of dollars in lost taxes," Inspector John Ferguson, head of the RCMP's economic-crime unit in British Columbia, said in an interview. "It's a huge problem. People don't realize how serious it is."

He said British Columbia, where cigarette prices are among the highest in Canada, has been particularly hurt by the growth of interprovincial smuggling. Profits are so high it has attracted different organized-crime elements who are starting to fight among themselves for dominant positions in the trade.

"It's big business," he said. "And that's why they're in it, because it is such big business. When they get caught, they usually get fined and that's it. They rarely go to jail."

Groups as diverse as the Mafia, Russian mobsters, bikers, Chinese triads and other ethnically based organized gangs are starting to compete, with a serious potential for increased violence.

"The Iranians are going to be fighting with the Asians, who are going to be fighting with Russian organized crime and the bikers, or whoever," Insp. Ferguson said. "To a degree, they are already fighting amongst themselves here. Shootings and so on have taken place. It's just a question of time before it gets to a larger scale. . . .

"The thing has really scary connotations to it. There is an element of criminal activity in this that goes far beyond buying a cheap smoke on the corner."

British Columbia, because of its high tobacco taxes and large population, is a major market for smuggled cigarettes. Insp. Ferguson said it is hard to say what percentage of cigarettes reach the province through interprovincial smuggling compared to international smuggling, but added: "I sort of have the gut feeling that it is a 50-50 split."

Superintendent Yves Juteau, head of the RCMP's customs-and-excise branch in Ottawa, said the force is trying to help affected provinces. "It's very hard to define [the extent of the problem] right now," he said, "but, yes, there is an increased problem in interprovincial smuggling."

igarettes are smuggled interprovincially by road, through mail-order operators (who take orders by letter, 800 phone numbers and E-mail), by commercial couriers and in airline baggage. The smugglers have little fear of the law.

Smugglers, for example, regularly fly on commercial flights between Toronto and Vancouver, checking two dozen suitcases or more at a time, each packed with 50 cartons of cigarettes.

"They have people out here go out to the airport," Insp. Ferguson said, "and they pick them up [off the baggage carousel]. They know we can't have enough police there to catch them all. So they run up in a group of 20 or 30 people, grab the bags, and start running in all directions."

The surge in interprovincial smuggling of tobacco products has its origins in the crisis the federal government faced in 1994, when international cigarette smuggling from the United States into Canada reached crisis levels.

At the time, most of the smuggled cigarettes were entering Canada through Ontario and Quebec. Two out of three cigarettes smoked in Quebec had been smuggled into Canada and that one of three smoked in the rest of the country was contraband. The police were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem.

Ottawa cut federal taxes on cigarettes in February, 1994, to reduce the price advantage of smuggled cigarettes. Ontario and Quebec, the two most affected provinces, cut their provincial cigarette taxes. As a result, smuggled cigarettes are no longer readily available in Ontario and Quebec, which have the cheapest cigarettes in Canada, but they are commonplace in other provinces, where taxes have remained high.

33 posted on 07/23/2002 4:15:56 PM PDT by 45Auto
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To: SheLion
"Groups as diverse as the Mafia, Russian mobsters, bikers, Chinese triads and other ethnically based organized gangs are starting to compete, with a serious potential for increased violence.

"The Iranians are going to be fighting with the Asians, who are going to be fighting with Russian organized crime and the bikers, or whoever," Insp. Ferguson said. "To a degree, they are already fighting amongst themselves here. Shootings and so on have taken place. It's just a question of time before it gets to a larger scale.

The Canadian experience with simply doubling the price of cigarettes should serve as a bitter lesson to the idiots who want to create the same kind of atmosphere in the US, only on a much grander scale.

The lessons of Prohibition [of alcohol] have been lost on current do-gooders and assorted morons.

34 posted on 07/23/2002 4:20:36 PM PDT by 45Auto
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To: 45Auto
It also means if the numbers were correct, we would already be 100% smokefree coast to coast.
35 posted on 07/23/2002 4:32:08 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: 45Auto; Great Dane
Ottawa cut federal taxes on cigarettes in February, 1994, to reduce the price advantage of smuggled cigarettes. Ontario and Quebec, the two most affected provinces, cut their provincial cigarette taxes.

If Ottawa cut federal taxes on cigarettes back in 1994, why the heck did they outrageously raise them again this year?

They never learn. Or do they.....


36 posted on 07/23/2002 4:35:46 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: 45Auto; Great Dane
Smokers face tax jolt
Local puffers may pay $15 more per carton of cigarettes
The Windsor Star Online - May 16, 2002
article here
THE AVERAGE PRICE IN CANADA FOR A CARTON OF 200 CIGARETTES:

Saskatchewan: $67.63
N.W.T.: $65.32
Manitoba: $64.81
Alberta: $64.04
Newfoundland: $63.08
B.C.: $61.09
Nunavut: $56.76
Nova Scotia: $56.22
P.E.I.: $54.30
Yukon: $49.49
N.B.: $48.70
Quebec: $43.82
Ontario: $42.26

~whew..........

37 posted on 07/23/2002 4:39:33 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: SheLion
In Ontario a carton is now $52.
38 posted on 07/23/2002 4:45:38 PM PDT by Great Dane
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To: Great Dane
In Ontario a carton is now $52.

That's highway robbery.

Here is Maine, at some stores, premiums go for $50 for 10 packs. It's just sickening. Thank God for roll your owns.


39 posted on 07/23/2002 4:49:57 PM PDT by SheLion
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To: SheLion
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.

Or moved to a more smoking friendly place.

40 posted on 07/23/2002 5:14:59 PM PDT by altair
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