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I read a news story stating that people in NY would be paying about $11 per pack of cigarettes because of all the taxes. Now, I don't smoke, but I do drink coffee and would have a tough time quiting--unless I couldn't afford to purchase coffee. I've heard that cigarettes and coffee are similar because they give a sense of calm or overall vitality. Assuming that nicotine and caffeine are similar, by how much would my bag of Starbucks coffee increase? I pay about $7.99 and the bag lasts me about 2 weeks.
I dont smoke, actually I hate secondhand smoke but I am interested in any way to eliminate smoking in public.
What I dont like is the fact that the government can put a huge tax on any freaking thing they want to. Big government is disgusting to me. Tax tax tax, thats all they know how to do and they cant balance a budget?
NY Governor Paterson is also proposing a soda tax!! Whats next? It will never stop unless we do something about it.
For some smokers it will mean that they and/or their families do without things other than cigarettes. A non-smoker can't understand the craving those chemicals can create. Just as a heroin junkie craves heroin; a smoker craves nicotine. Whether its right or wrong isn't a decision for someone unaffected by this to make.
Cut your smoking costs; I did! By rolling my own I now pay about $10 per carton. Check out e-cigs if you want to get rid of the smoke of smoking.
My state just raised the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack and a carton of Marlboro's now goes for about $45. 7 years ago it was $25. And something tells me the state won't stop there...in 10 years it will be +$20.
The whole "smoking is bad for you" and "just don't smoke" arguments are pretty much beside the point here. The crux of the matter is quite simply, smokers make an easy target (try cutting SS bennies to seniors that vote for example) because they are a sort of captive audience. Think the way Burger King charges $5 for the same Whopper burger sandwich at the airport versus $2 at the one on the street five miles away. It's human nature to go after the proverbial low hanging fruit and that's what the Gov'ment is going after. The same way they are with speeding tickets, which have nothing to do with "safety" or "just slowing down", but rather, it is a way to raise quick cash with minimal effort.
The problem with this is....if they get too greedy....and they actually get what they ask for, namely people giving up smoking (or slowing down), then they will end up creating more problems than they solve because some smokers will quit and the rest will turn to the Black Market. So the extra revenues they thought they were raising instead does the exact opposite and dries up.
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What does it mean to pay $11 per pack of cigarettes?
