Smokers prepared to "say no" to the raise of cigarette tax

Apr 9 2010

As New York prepares to raise the cigarette tax to $3.75 per pack, smokers are prepared to "say no" as the price of a pack of smokes hits a record price of $8.79.

While the anti-smoking groups cheer the tax hikes, most states have underestimated how much revenue they would lose after increasing cigarette taxes. The strategy of anti-smoking groups is to make tobacco so expensive it will force consumers to quit. Their mission is to save lives through harm reduction. The state on the other hand claims they need the taxes to offset the cost of their healthcare debt caused by the effects of smoking. In reality, less than 10% will go the to healthcare and prevention while the rest will go to pet projects that will be extracted from a targeted minority group of people that can not afford to pay more but will be forced to because they can't quit.

The ever rising cost of cigarettes due to state tax increases is forcing smokers to switch to the less expensive e-cigarette. EcigarettesChoice.com, one of the top online retailers, claims they see a spike in sales each time a state enacts a tax increase as smokers search for an alternative to escape the discrimination of being singled out to pay for community projects. The company offers an electric cigarette alternative that gives a smoker the sensation of smoking at a lower cost without the tar and second hand smoke in tobacco cigarettes.

Tobacco cigarette prices range from $4 to $10 per pack, depending on where you live. Using e-cigarettes as an alternative may cut that cost in half and save the consumers thousands of dollars per year. Enter the rational to ban the electric smokes for no other reason but to protect the tax revenue. When you can't compete against a product in the American free enterprise system, the only solution is to eliminate it through legislation.

The Obama administration recently achieved this with the PACT Act, which took away the American Indians ability to compete with big tobacco by selling their cigarettes across the country on the Internet. The PACT Act passed by unanimous consent without a vote or a hearing on a late night in March, 2010 in another one of those back room deals by our Open and Transparent Government.

The Act bans the shipment of cigarettes and certain tobacco products through the U.S. Postal Service, which effectively cut off the competitive low cost method of delivery from Internet stores and handed big tobacco corporations a huge victory over a competitor. Tribal leaders say this is an attack on tribal sovereignty and economies and this will devastate American Indian tobacco businesses across the country.