N.Y. Smokers Face Highest Tax In Nation

Health Commissioner Says $1.25 Per Pack Increase Is A "Public Health Victory"

(AP)  New Yorkers start paying the highest cigarette taxes in the nation Tuesday with the latest $1.25 spike per pack that officials expect to bring in $265 million a year.

Convenience stores across the state and the smokers who will be paying the price are angry about the change, but health officials hail the tax increase as a success. Cigarette taxes will raise a total of $1.3 billion for the state budget in fiscal year 2008-2009, including the new tax.

"Isn't that something - to say that I'm excited about a tax increase? But I am," said Dr. Richard Daines, the New York health commissioner. "This is a public health victory. We know one of the really effective tools to get people off of their nicotine addiction is to the raise the price."

Smokers will be paying $2.75 per pack in state taxes, a jump from the previous tax of $1.50. Before the new tax, the average price of a pack of cigarettes was $5.82 statewide, and about $8 a pack in New York City, which levies its own taxes, Daines said. The new retail price for a pack in the city could now soar past $10 depending on the store.

An estimated 140,000 New Yorkers will stop smoking with this tax increase, Daines said. That number is based on prior tax increases and cigarette consumption.

"Youth are particularly sensitive to the price of cigarettes, so this price increase is expected to prevent 243,000 youth from smoking," Daines said.

Daines said the tax increase is just one part of an $83 million anti-smoking effort that includes advertising and public service announcements, attempts to get tobacco consumption out of youth rated movies and cessation centers around the state.

"What we really want people to do is not to pay the price, but to stop smoking," he said.

Audrey Silk, who heads NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment, said it's ridiculous to expect smokers to quit just because the price is climbing. She switched to rolling her own cigarettes since the last New York City tax increase and suggests other smokers will find similar ways to satisfy nicotine cravings.

"No product has a tax at this rate on it," Silk said. "If there was, there would be screaming, but since we've been beaten into submission and nobody listens to us, what else is there to do? It's unjustifiable and you turn to alternatives, and any consumer group would do the same."

Convenience stores, which historically count on cigarette sales, have also objected to the tax, saying it will drive smokers - and dollars - elsewhere.

"The tax increase is only going to feed that epidemic," said Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores. "More and more smokers in New York state are going to abandon our stores that have to charge the tax and shift their purchases to places that don't charge the tax, most notably Native American stores, the Internet and bootleggers."

[armydog2]

time to quit smoking or move.

[pvperson]

Sure makes smuggling atractive. Kinda like Prohibition in the way it will create jobs for the criminals.

[kennedy7955]

I have never smoked, never will and from a personal standpoint it wouldn''t matter to me if cigarettes were $100 a pack. But at these prices, an old industry is about to be reborn and the violence and corruption that will ensue is more than predictable. The smugglers are going to make a fortune at the state''s expense.

[bobgee_1999]

"Public Health Victory" Plllt! More like a B.S. Discrimination Victory. It would be interesting if we managed to get rid of smoking altogether, just to see what they would go after next. Fat people is my guess.

I''m willing to concede that if you''re trapped in a phone booth with a smoker for 30 years secondhand smoke might be a health issue, but beyond that I seriously doubt it.

[navyjimfl]

man after paying for my cigs gas beer and lottery tickets i can''t pay the rent....

[ephd]

I don''t smoke, but it amazes me that the government is getting away with this fantastic abuse of power. The tax rate on cigarettes is obsene, and they are only getting away with this because mostloud mouthed liberals like the ACLU are addicted to starbucks coffee, rather than cigarettes. Now if they taxed coffee like this, there would be demonstrations and mohawk sporting nutjobs would be spraying alfalfa spouts they would be screaming so hard and loud.

[rf35]

They might as well just ban tobacco altogether. Damm glad I quit. Oh, and once the health Nazis are finished with tobacco, watch your alcohol prices. The lost revenue from smokers who quit will have to be made up elsewhere.

[ephd]

oops, did i just try to turn this into a conservative vs. liberal issue even though it is moslty unrelated to politics? I guess its similar to how most liberals somehow find an excuse to bash the war, Bush, and America, in every articles comments section. Even when the article is about the migration habits of peruvian dung beetles

[timothyone-2009]

This makes me so happy! If only they had done this 100 years ago before half my family and I were sickened by cigarettes. Now let''s move on to alcohol!!

[s1ckd09]

Geee... Why does New York hate kids? They are purposely trying to destroy the SCHIP program by eliminating the source of revenue. If only some people had said this earlier when the whole SCHIP debate was being held... oh wait, there WERE people saying this.... the people with BRAINS and common sense!
Hey, guess what? They''re going to get that SCHIP money from somewhere, right? Guess who''s next...

[s1ckd09]

This makes me so happy! If only they had done this 100 years ago before half my family and I were sickened by cigarettes. Now let''''s move on to alcohol!!



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Posted by timothyone at 12:34 PM : Jun 03, 2008


I hope you''re being sarcastic...

[therealbd]

I can understand wanting people to quit smoking...but I think that this is just a "smoke in mirrors" excuse. This is like taxing Prozac to deter people from being going crazy... or to deter young people from having mental problems.
Why not tax high end imported wines and liquors; top end imported cigars and top end prostitutes.... o that''s because those are the products that the law makers purchase. They don''t want to be taxed. The Indian reservations are going to love this. They will see a huge increase in sales (which will be counter productive as far as generating revenue). Not to mention taking money out of our communities and into others. Great going policy makers... good job
Bottom line: just another way to tax the lower and middle classes. Tell you senators and congress people that the governments (all levels) are going to have to start doing what all of the rest of us are doing, do more with less! Cannot keep taxing us at every corner to fund the government%u2019s inefficiencies

[shuggie55]

I''m a liberal and I smoke and I''m against what they are doing. So quit making this about liberal vs conservative - makes no sense! Because there are a LOT of liberals I know that is just as angry about this tax as the next.

The problem is that these people who make this decision are x smokers, hate smoke or have had someone they know get sick or die from smoke. That could mean anynone. That''s who''s making these laws.

I think the one guy below said it right - watch out - alcohol is next!

[acolton1]

I only smoke when I am drinking and at the Casino usually. It peves me off when people see you open a pack at the Casino and make a bee line towards you and try to bum a smoke.

I just say NO all the time now. I use to give people cigarrets but sometimes its the same person being a bum and asking for a smoke. IF YOU CANT AFFORD TO SMOKE THEN QUIT. One pack last me almost 2 or 3 weeks.

[blkdog2]

SMOKING KILLS YOU, ... killing yourself ought to be expensive.

[trillion1]

The anti smoking nazis are so short sighted it''s scary. If the tens of millions in tobbacco taxes disappear do they think the goverment isn''t going to make it up somewhere else. It will be interesting when the goverment starts harassing fat people. There are far more of them than there are smokers and they are a drain on the health care system.

[killtheliars]

the point that smoking is bad is irrevelant. People who choose to do something that is legal should not have to pay to purchase other people''s health insurance and fund schools that their kids don''t attend. when this tax was first established all of the money was supposed to be allocated to quite smoking programs and health care for smokers (which is only fair since they are paying for it). Just because state and local governments are broke smokers should not have to bail them out. If the local governments don''t have any money they need to close down programs, and even schools if necessary, not tax one group of people . The argument that smokers have a higher health cost is not a valid argument either. If you can afford to smoke at $450.00 a pack chances are you are paying for your own health insurance, so if you need medical care you are covered, unlike a lot of people who don''t smoke. One of the problems with this country is they are constantly looking at ways to take from the people who have and give to the people who don''t. If you don''t have go get a second job.

[credibility2]

Good for NY! I quit a two pack a day habit cold turkey in 1990. Yeah, I tried quitting several times before, but losing a high-paying job forced me to make a choice: food or cigarettes. I can''t stand being around anyone who is a smoker. Even smelling the residue on them is sickening. I live in IL and there is a supposed total ban on smoking, except out on the streets and sidewalks where all of the smokers light up en masse and creating a major stink with their filthy disgusting second-hand smoke that non-smokers are forced to inhale just by trying to breathe.

[bobnjersey]

lets try prohibition ... that''ll work ... yea ... that''s the ticket!

[killtheliars]

go to Delaware, that is what I do. a carton is $30.00. There is no way I''m paying someone elses bills. I have enough to pay for with my own family, private schools, vacations, mortgage ect. If i were buying them in Pa I would be speading twice that.

[joe1022joe]

Black market cigarettes are just around the corner -- if they''re not already here.

[erichsh]

"We know one of the really effective tools to get people off of their nicotine addiction is to the raise the price" says New York health commissioner. I''d submit that New York has its own addiction problems - addicted to new taxes and new $$$$.

[middleman8]

The only good thing about smokers is they die early and don''t draw pensions.

[prairiefox1]

SIMPLE! PLANT BURLEY TOBACCO AND TURKISH TOBACCO AND LEARN THE CURING PROCESS! TO CUT THE TOBACCO USE A SPAGHETTI MACHINE AND PACK THE TOBACCO IN AIR TIGHT CONTAINERS! (CANNING JARS WILL DO JUST FINE!) AND THEY CAN SIT ON THEIR TAX!

[prairiefox1]

IT IS NO LONGER GOVERNMENT BUT A MOB FIGURING A WAY TO ROB YOU!

[prairiefox1]

BAND TOGETHER AND FORM A COOP! GROW YOUR OWN!

[xxunknown]

There once was a man from Nantucket...
...who tried to sell me a bucket...
but he couldnt because..
there were too many laws...
so he threw up his hands and said..
VOTE LIBERTARIAN

[dobbershome]

I don''t think it is fair for the state to tax cigarettes at this rate and I don''t smoke.I guess booze is next.

[lochlan-2009]

More restrictions on Americans, and they stand up and applaud.

[bikerb54]

Looks like the government found another way to control our lives. What ever happened to "over 21 and make your own choices.?" Guess the government is not happy unless they control what you do with your body, money, property and who you choose to love and marry. You can''t be trusted to make your own choices and be happy with them. I feel like a kid still living with my parents-except I have to pay to have my choices made for me now! Would you like to choose my lover for me, too? How about my job, bank, mode of transportation? If it''s not too much to ask, if you choose all that, you can *** well pay for it, too.

[hdradio]

If they were really interested in helping people kick a habit like cigarettes, and not just lining their fat wallets with cash, why do they not contribute even a penny of this tax money into subsidizing various smoking cessation tools like nicotine gum and patches, programs, pills, new cessation research, etc.

Not a cent of the money they profited from all those multi-million dollar tobacco lawsuits or the outlandish cigarette taxes ever went into "actually" helping the public quite their habits. Many smokers started clear back when the health hazards to themselves were not even known, let alone those sitting beside them.

Are heroin addicts really that much more deserving than smokers? Methadone treatment is fully subsidized by state governments. This is obviously due to the fact that heroin addicts have been more inclined than smokers in the past to commit crimes in order to fund their habits, thus appearing more dangerous to the public, but that might not even be the case for much longer.

[grammawhamma]

When smokers are gone from New York City...then what are they going to blame the smog on??

After smokers are gotten rid of...the obese will be next. Be prepared to be taxed on the ammount of calories in the food you choose to purchase. Macaroni and cheese---- $12.00 a box.

[shanev137]

Looks like it''s about time to start bootlegging tobacco underground.

[displeased]

Macaroni and cheese---- $12.00 a box.
Posted by GrammaWhamma

They should tax junk food. And use the revenue to subsidize the expensive fruits and veggies.

[beehive21-2009]

Wonderful,$ 10.00 to $ 20.00, a pack is cheap, the cost too society is higher too fix, all the idiot , smokers.

[dobbershome]

Tax-Tax-Tax-Tax-Tax- Tax everything!

[trillion1]

I live in NY and we have the most tax crazy goverment in the country. Our people in Albany are the most grossly over paid, under achieving bunch of clowns you will find just about anywhere. This tax is purly harassment and greed under guise of "concern" for people''s health.

[grammawhamma]

In NY is it now cheaper to buy pot than cigarettes?

[one-american]

If you think this tax is bad, just wait until a Democrat gets into the White House!

Hide your money! The Democrats are coming!

[deacon20081]

Texas already has a tax on junk food. A State Tax added another dollar to a pack of smokes making a carton $45.00.
Buy from Georgia they are $26.00 a carton.

[scottyusa]

"Isn''t that something - to say that I''m excited about a tax increase? But I am," said Dr. Richard Daines, the New York health commissioner. "This is a public health victory. We know one of the really effective tools to get people off of their nicotine addiction is to the raise the price."

Stupid a_s. He is excited about an unfair dicrininatory tax on the poor mostly that he won''t be paying. I am starting to get really discouraged when our government regulates every aspect of our lives. Does anyone see a problem here? I certainly do. There is something in the water in every captitol building in the United States. Don''t drink it or you will start trying to control everyone around you.

[scottyusa]

In NY is it now cheaper to buy pot than cigarettes?


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Posted by GrammaWhamma at 04:28 PM : Jun 03, 2008
+ report abuse

Pound for pound probably yes lol

[cyberus-2009]

All they did is increase the cross-state-border and reservation sales.

[dogsoul]

"What we really want people to do is not to pay the price, but to stop smoking," he said.

Then ban smoking - or why not make it $7,000 per pack?

The hypocrisy of trying to ''help'' you quit by legislating huge taxes is ridiculous. I don''t smoke anymore, but even when I did - I would have preferred they outright BAN it rather than continue on with this charade. Like the other poster noted, if they''re SO concerned about public health - why not dedicate all that EXTRA tax revenue to smoking cessation programs instead of plugging budget gaps or building stadiums noone can smoke in? They''re exploiting addicted people - plain & simple. So why not come right out & BAN it? Because THEN everyone ELSE will have to fork over more money - because THEN they''ll lose their thinly veiled guise of maintaining individual freedoms - because THEN they''ll usher in a prohibition style criminal market - because THEN it''ll be seen for what it truly is...

And for all you non smokers who don''t care one BIT because it doesn''t affect you? Do you or does anyone you care about consume, expose yourself to, or get involved in ANYthing that could be deemed of an ''unhealthy'' nature? Alcohol? Overweight? Casual s*x? Lack of excercise? Gambling? Are they raising their kids in the perfect way? Don''t think it''ll come to that? Well - no smoking in bars was a joke not too long ago....

[dogsoul]

"Stupid a_s. He is excited about an unfair dicrininatory tax on the poor mostly that he won''''t be paying. "

That''s a good point - these kinds of ''sin taxes'' tend to be VERY regressive in nature.... Of course, you don''t see any of these states looking to stop their OWN gambling & lottery efforts do you? Gambling is addictive & dangerous - and it''s usually poor people who end up throwing what money that DO have away on those things....

[grammawhamma]

Why is it only cigarettes that are taxed to the max and not other tobacco products? All tobacco causes cancer.

[cyberus-2009]

ROFL .. I just realized that every time they do this the sale of smokes drop and they claim a "health" victory .. when the drop is sales is balanced out outside the extreme tax zone.

[one-american]

"The taxing of the cigarettes is not democratic - look who is approving it! Bloomberg and new gov - repubs"

Posted by zoe2006 at 05:36 PM : Jun 03, 2008


Bloomberg is no Republican...not by a long shot!

[my2centss]

Yet another liberal tax on the poor and middle class. Just think, these same people claim its the rich they want to tax. Maybe we should not judge a politician by their promises.

[gmond]

Yep, pot is now officially cheaper than cigarettes...