As cigarette taxes climb higher, so, too, does the potential for crime. The ATF calls cigarettes the number one commodity in the black market due to the ability to turn a quick dollar with relatively low risk. It’s profitable for crooks and for the government. So, do we raise the tax yet again?
How high would taxes have to boost the cost of a pack of cigarettes before you’d stop smoking? $5 a pack? $10 a pack? $15 a pack? What about $20? That’s the plan in Australia if the government gets its way. As part of the National Tobacco Strategy, the policy framework for the Australian Government…
Last week, a friend and I saw a group of Eagles fans walking down Main Street and were shocked to notice that every single one of them had a cigarette in hand. It was striking because I don’t see many smokers now. I’m not sure why that is. I can’t figure out if it’s because…
In a remarkable change, South Carolina has voted to increase its cigarette tax for the first time since 1977. Well, sort of for the first time. The legislature originally increased the cigarette tax earlier in the month. But it was subsequently vetoed by Governor Sanford (R-SC). Today, however, the legislature managed to override the veto,…
Well, one thing we know about Sanford (alrighty, two, if you count the whole cheating on his wife and lying about it bit) is that he keeps his word… to the legislature. The governor of South Carolina vetoed a bill yesterday that would have increased the cigarette tax in the state by 50 cents. The…
Even with a projected $1 billion budget gap looming, there are some items in South Carolina that are apparently “off the table” when it comes to taxation. Chief among them? Cigarettes. South Carolina enjoys the lowest cigarette tax in the country at a paltry 7 cents per pack. Nope, that’s not a typo: 7 cents….
Donna Peeples writes: I have seen a lot of articles in the paper about taxing sodas and foods that are bad for you. I say, “Why not?” I used to be a smoker. At one point, I was up to two packs a day. When New Jersey raised their cigarette tax, I stopped because my…
Nevada legislators got an earful (and an eyeful) on Tuesday during a hearing about whether to tax prostitutes. The tax would be $5 per sex act and would raise more than $2 million per year for the state (I did the math on that one for you, it’s 400,000). Nevada has not collected any direct…
These days, you have to really want to smoke to be a smoker. In many cities (like Philly), you can no longer smoke in public buildings or restaurants. Many workplaces are smoke-free. There are fines for smoking in the wrong place at the wrong time. And now, it just got even more expensive. On Wednesday,…
Okay, don’t get me wrong. I think that providing universal health care options for children should be a priority in our country. However, shifting the burden to smokers to avoid what is essentially a political fight (the “who will pay for it” argument going on between the President and the Senate) is just a bit…