Rising cost of taking a puff

[rcpratt]

There's nothing good about it, at all.

If people stop killing themselves and I don't have to inhale it, it works for me.

 

[Greenman]

I assume that organized crime will become deeply involved in the untaxed cigarette trade. I also assume that ATF will have to be greatly expanded to control the millions scofflaws that will be buying untaxed smokes.

 

[bignateyk]

Sadly, we are all paying for this. Think of how many people on welfare smoke. They sure as hell won't give it up. They'll just keep using their food stamps to buy food, welfare checks to raise their children, and their hard earned money to buy cigs.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Up another $1.60 per pack, how can anyone afford to smoke?

How can anyone afford to have multiple children when its a proven case the majority of parents couldn't, or wouldn't 100% afford the first child. D:

 

[xanis]

How can anyone afford to have multiple children when its a proven case the majority of parents couldn't, or wouldn't 100% afford the first child. D:

You could use that same argument with a lot of things. The answer is almost always the same: "they can't".

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Doesn't the mob make a lot of money bootlegging cigs? I suspect they're liking this.

maybe 30 years ago....The mob is involved in a lot more sophisticated and/or legitimate operations now.

 

[somethingsketchy]

Sadly, we are all paying for this. Think of how many people on welfare smoke. They sure as hell won't give it up. They'll just keep using their food stamps to buy food, welfare checks to raise their children, and their hard earned money to buy cigs.

I'm not exactly sure of the "rules" for the welfare program, but as far as I was aware of, I though it was illegal to purchase items such as alcohol or cigarettes when the money is meant for food.

At least that's how it works in Vermont for alcohol. Not sure about what other states have for welfare laws.

 

[vi edit]

I'm not exactly sure of the "rules" for the welfare program, but as far as I was aware of, I though it was illegal to purchase items such as alcohol or cigarettes when the money is meant for food.

At least that's how it works in Vermont for alcohol. Not sure about what other states have for welfare laws.

He's not saying that. He's saying that lots of poor people smoke. So they spend money on that habit. And then in turn use food stamps to buy food.

Why should they have enough money to buy smokes but not enough to buy food?

I think that's his point.

 

[drebo]

How can anyone afford to have multiple children when its a proven case the majority of parents couldn't, or wouldn't 100% afford the first child. D:

The incremental cost of a second, third, or forth child is far, far lower than the first child. In fact, the incremental cost goes down considerably with each successive child (after one).

 

[Mojoed]

The anti-smoking crowd is probably peeing their pants with excitement.

The problem is all that tax $$ goes away when people decide to quit because of the cost and then they start raising taxes on something the anti-smokers enjoy such as beer, wine and liquor.

Yes, the tax money goes away when people quit. But when people quit, there are fewer long-term health problems and that alone will save more tax dollars overall.

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

as with other things, the ones that can least afford it will be the ones who continue to smoke no matter what. "I'll quit when they reach xxxx per pack, you watch"

 

[FelixDeCat]

If youre a smoker how smart can you be anyway? Not very. Smokers are whats wrong with America.

 

[TwiceOver]

Glad I don't smoke anymore. Wow.

 

[bobdole369]

Up another $1.60 per pack, how can anyone afford to smoke?

I wish they cost another $15 per pack down here. There is nothing redeeming about smoking. Everybody here knows my views as an former smoker - turned asshole about it.

 

[mrblotto]

That was a huge deal in NY a few years ago. They went back to some "Indian" smoke company online and demaned that they give up the records of people from NY who bought online so that they could try and recapture the sales tax for them.

Not sure what the resolution was or if that's still floating through the court system.

Seems that NY has tried something similar almost 20 years ago too:

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/18/nyregion/new-betrayal-senecas-say-and-new-rage.html

I'm glad I quit smoking in '99. Smokes were 'only' about $3/pack then here

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

I'm anti-smoking, and my pants aren't urine soaked, thank you very much.

I'd rather we could cut spending instead of increasing taxes.

Yup, I hate cigarettes and would love for people to quit, but this is not the right way to go about doing it.

 

[OutHouse]

maybe 30 years ago....The mob is involved in a lot more sophisticated and/or legitimate operations now.

im sure somebody is looking into how much profit they can make by black marketing cigs.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

...total NY tax on cigs = price of cigs in FL. Nice.

 

[LTC8K6]

The black market for cigarettes and tobacco is alive and strong, make no mistake about that. From wiki, and you can find all sorts of reports on black market cigarettes and tobacco.

It has been reported that smuggling one truckload of cigarettes from a low-tax US state to a high-tax state can lead to a profit of up to $2 million.[7] The low-tax states are generally the major tobacco producers, and have come under enormous criticism for their reluctance to increase taxes. North Carolina eventually agreed to raise its taxes from 5 cents to 35 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes, although this remains far below the national average.[8] But South Carolina has so far refused to follow suit and raise taxes from seven cents per pack (the lowest in the USA).[9]

In the UK it has been reported that "27% of cigarettes and 68% of roll your own tobacco [is] purchased on the black market".[10]

 

[QueBert]

maybe 30 years ago....The mob is involved in a lot more sophisticated and/or legitimate operations now.

I wouldn't say that, if they can make a lot of quick easy money they'll do it. Hell not many years ago one of John Gottis sons was busted with a hijacked truck full of Tickle Me Elmos.

 

[dank69]

The incremental cost of a second, third, or forth child is far, far lower than the first child. In fact, the incremental cost goes down considerably with each successive child (after one).

Far, far?
2-4x food cost, healthcare, college costs.
Sure you can save money on hand-me-downs but what percentage is that?
The main bulk of savings can be had if one parent quits their job to provide daycare once the daycare costs would have exceeded the income of said job I suppose, but I still don't think that qualifies as 'far lower.'

 

[Kirby]

Sin taxes FTL.

 

[SlowSpyder]

If I were a smoker, I probably would have switched to crack or meth at this point.

 

[preslove]

The anti-smoking crowd is probably peeing their pants with excitement.

The problem is all that tax $$ goes away when people decide to quit because of the cost and then they start raising taxes on something the anti-smokers enjoy such as beer, wine and liquor.

Uh... one of the main points of taxing cigarettes is to incentivize smokers to quit.

 

[QueBert]

I wish they cost another $15 per pack down here. There is nothing redeeming about smoking. Everybody here knows my views as an former smoker - turned asshole about it.

What about people like my mom, the only places she smokes is inside her own home. She enjoys it, knows the risks but doesn't care. Nobody deals with her 2nd hand smoke, so she's not harming anyone but herself. Last time I checked this was a free country. And if they added another $15 per pack I'm 100% sure she'd keep on smoking.

Uh... one of the main points of taxing cigarettes is to incentivize smokers to quit.

It doesn't work well, when I use to work at a liquor store and CA added the tax, which made them jump like 2 bucks a pack. None of the regulars quit because of it. Many bitched, they they all ended up finding other things to cut out of their lives so they could continue to afford to smoke. We had about 100 regulars who bought smokes every day. I don't remember one who quit when the tax went way up. The tax is a way for states to make more $$$, people addicted to Nicotine aren't going to quit simply because the prices go up. They'll adjust the budget and find a way to keep the habit going.