The price of a pack of smokes just went up 61 cents (new federal tax increase)

[madville]

Looks like I'll be paying around $4.50 a pack now or $6.10 more per carton. It is going to a good cause though, going to fund expansion of the SCHIP program.

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/senate-passes-schip-bill-with.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. I wonder what % of consumption taxes are paid for by smokers?

Especially as compared to any other easily identifiable group.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. More importantly, what happens when the consumption declines and there is less taxes?

Its been pointed out that the government is as addicted to cigs as the smokers.

[deadmessengers]

18. Healthcare costs will drop along with cigarette consumption

When those healthcare costs fall, there will be more money in the economy. If you don't believe me, ask any former tobacco addict how much more disposable income they have.

[rucky]

26. Are you sure? People will have longer, more drawn-out deaths.

wouldn't they?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

45. Much of the cigarette taxes go to non-smoking related areas such as schools

and much of the health care for smokers is not coming out of tax money. If the US were all to quit cold turkey tomorrow, many states would be in much worse shape.

[Hello_Kitty]

20. That's what I'm wondering

Based on some stuff I've read about addiction research and epidemiology, we may have reached a bottom where smoking is concerned in terms of the percentage of people who smoke, which is a little less than a quarter of the population. A little of that will drop off as the prices increase and some young people might be discouraged from picking up the habit due to the cost. But there is something very alluring and intractible about smoking so I anticipate it will stay at the same level. OTOH, there's only so much blood they can squeeze out of the turnips of booze and ciggies so I anticipate they'll move on to put sin taxes on junk food.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. How can people

afford to smoke?

That eludes me.

Five bucks a pack, thirty days in a month - how can you afford that?

[NOW tense]

3. My addiction makes me do it. n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

7. I can understand it

I'm a former smoker. I can absolutely understand it. The threshold to cessation is different for everyone. It wasn't money for me. It was a heart attack. For others it is cost. For still others, it is social acceptance.

And even here, the threshold in each category differs.

My first monthly mortgage payment was less than today's cost to smoke for one month. Pretty incredible.

[eShirl]

8. yeah but it's still cheaper than a coke habit

I think?

[L0oniX]

40. Well ya could spend more and smoke weed to help quit the cigs ...

that's what I did ...and it worked.

[BlooInBloo]

13. For me, cut that by 1/2, since I typically smoke 1/2 a pack a day....

But yah, it adds up.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. It's an addictive drug. Trust me, I'm a former smoker nt

[Tangerine LaBamba]

24. So am I

But I just quit out of the blue. Hadn't planned to, but I ran out of smokes one day while I was really busy, and when I was finished, a few days later, I noticed I'd lost my taste for smoking. A very strange experience. I never missed it, never looked back, and I still love the smell of cigarette smoke.

The cost, though, would have gotten me to quit today, if I were still smoking. Addiction or not, there's no way I'd send those hard-earned bucks up in smoke.

I feel for those who are hooked.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

25. Thank goodness! A bad bronchitis quit smoking for me

I couldn't breathe.

I haven't smoked since. It was SO SO SO DIFFICULT for me! OH MY GOSH!!!

[CTyankee]

27. Not for everybody. I "thought" I was addicted until I really had a good incentive

to stop: my new relationship with my future husband (and a realization of how much I loathed the smell of my clothes, plus my growing belief that the smart people don't smoke). I stopped cold and never started again. I had been smoking for 20 years.

I had no shakes, no chills, no longings, no irritation. My strongest desire was to be a "non-smoker" and every day that I didn't smoke was a confirmation. I believed I was strong and confident. It boosted my ego and self image. I was happier than I had been in a long time. I felt free...

People shouldn't just automatically assume that they are addicted. I have no doubt that some are, but it's just too easy an excuse not to even try. But you have to remake the image you have of yourself. If you feel that you are a pathetic victim of a drug, perhaps counseling will help. Unfortunately, the ads you see tell you that you are addicted. You need somebody to tell you what I just did: it ain't necessarily so! You might as well try...

[Tangerine LaBamba]

30. It's the addiction gene

Some people have it, and some don't. We're the lucky ones, you and I, lacking that gene as we do.

I spent a long time in the hospital, taking the highest-power painkillers - from morphine to oxycodone - and when I stopped, I didn't miss a beat. Nothing. When I have to take them, it's with absolutely no fear of getting hooked.

But, as I said, we're the lucky ones. It's not an excuse, not as I see it. They're physically addicted, and that's heartbreaking.

[CTyankee]

33. I have been on strong pain killers and never got addicted, too. So I agree with you.

I guess my point to smokers was: don't just assume you are addicted. You won't know until you really want to stop and make that effort. Just do the self examination and then give it a try. It's better than not trying, IMO.

[snot]

4. personally, i wish ALL costs of any activity were transparent & built into the price.

BE that pollution, de-regulation of financial businesses, failure to educate kids, etc.

[Runcible Spoon]

5. I quit quite a while ago, but if I was still smoking I would be ordering online

or rolling my own. They are switching over to that "fire safe" paper anyways, which a lot of people say tastes like ass and hell knows what kind of toxins that dip the papers into. :scared:

[madville]

14. The tax on loose RYO tobacco is going up $23 per pound

Going from $1 to $24 for loose roll your own tobacco. They are making sure you can't get away from it.

[safeinOhio]

32. $16.00/pound now for roll your own

I get about 3 cartons out of that. Plus filtered tubes, it comes out to $0.72/pack
Keep trying to stop, but.
The advantage for me, rolling my own with a machine is that I limit how many I roll at night while watching the news. When I'm out, I'm out. That has helped me cut way down.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. We'll be paying $7.60 now!

We have to quit. x(

[DJ13]

15. .......and theres the FLAW in this stupid scheme

Trying to pay for a childrens health program with a high tax that increases the level of taxes already being paid on that product, which in turn will force many (if not most) users of that LEGAL product to quit.........which in turn deprives that health program of the funding needed to remain viable.

A 1/2% increase on income taxes above $200,000 income would have been a better way to insure long term viability for the children's families to obtain that health care.

This sin tax to pay for kids to get health care is a really idiotic idea.

[Codeine]

55. Almost nobody will quit. nt

[Raksha]

59. I totally agree! The funding for a necessary program

should NOT be dependent on increasing the burden on an ever-shrinking tax base.

And yeah...I've been smoking for years and consider myself addicted. AND I'm on a fixed income. No way can I afford another 61 cents a pack, but I still dread the thought of going through withdrawal.

[Jack Sprat]

64. Just don't kill yourself. Lots of people doing that now.

It doesn't help matters to take your own life over something like a tax hike. I know how you feel. I'm a smoker too. Yet, I refuse to take my own life.

If you do decide to kill yourself over the higher prices, please don't kill your entire family. It isn't their fault. Think about it.

I think food products that contain fats or sugars need to be taxed much more than cigarettes.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Fucking ridiculous

I already get scammed on cigarette prices in NJ. That's one thing I miss about VA. That, and being able to get beer/wine in the grocery stores.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

31. At Costco

and BJ's, they keep the cartons of cigarettes in locked cages, and you have to get someone to get them for you.

Tells you something about smokers, but it just makes me feel even sorrier for them.

The so-called "sin tax" blows chunks.

Just like I think tampons and toilet paper should be free, so should cigarettes. And beer. And Diet Pepsi.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

57. They don't sell cigarettes at Costcos in NJ

I've never seen a place where someone didn't have to get the cigarettes off the shelf for you.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

60. Remember getting change

for the cigarette machine?



The machines today take only bills, I am told. Just that fact makes me nuts, I swear............

[me b zola]

11. I roll my own filtered cigarettes for about $15 a carton

The tobacco that I buy does not have any of the additives/chemicals that are found in most cigarette brands.

It's not as convenient as packaged smokes, but well worth the effort.

[madville]

16. The tax on RYO loose tobacco is going up $23 per pound

It was $1 per pound of loose tobacco but now will be $24. I don't know what that equals per carton.

[MikeNearMcChord]

12. Of course in the age of joblessness

Don't be surprised in the number of cigarette smuggling cases increases. That is the one drawback. And some will say F**k it, if I get caught it is still 3 meals and a place to sleep.

[Upton]

17. Just watch.. the smoking addicts will be stealing

next, anything to feed their foolish addiction.

[Confusious]

28. Boy, no leway for anyone huh?

I think you overestimate the addiction, and underestimate the moral compass of smokers.

Oh, and secondhand smoke argument is so much blah blah blahhhh

If it takes someone who smokes 50 years to get cancer, at 1,000,000 times the concentration, I guess you'll catch it in 100,000 years or so. lets hope your not alive then!

[Upton]

34. Personally, I question the sanity

of anyone who pays good money to inhale carcinogens.

BTW, for you to claim the "secondhand smoke argument is so much blah blah blahhhh" is your addiction speaking loud and clear. Good luck with eventually overcoming it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

39. It's not that simple

If it were, people would have no trouble quitting smoking. For you to put it in such black and white terms makes you miss the grays, the many variables involved in the habit of smoking.

Researchers say nicotine is far more addictive than heroin. Do you honestly believe that cost - and the greater risk of cancer, heart disease, any number of illnesses - would matter to people if they face down these risks? Of course not.

After a point, I don't believe smoking is a voluntary act. Some people get hooked, others don't.

The smokers have my full sympathy. It's a rough habit.

[Upton]

44. I see it as simple

I was once a smoker...I quit cold turkey, it's called willpower..a word most smokers are unfamiliar with.

While I understand that some people have addictive personalities, others simply lack the intestinal fortitude to do what is right.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

46. I was once a smoker, as well

I quit because I ran out of cigarettes and forgot to buy more. It took absolutely no will power. I was busy, ran out of cigarettes, and when I wasn't that busy any more, I just didn't buy any more.

It didn't take me any will power, not like it took you. So that sort of makes you very different from me, yet we're both non-smokers.

I know a number of smokers who have excellent discipline in other areas of their lives. Too bad you don't.

And if you can't see all the variables within those two extremes where you and I both quit smoking, then you're missing a whole lot.

[Sal Minella]

47. That's the best way to find out that "overestimating addiction" is so much blah blah blah.

[safeinOhio]

51. Dad quit smoking at 80 years old

Thank God, or he would have never made it to 90.

[Joe Fields]

61. Free of insidious habits, are you?

Kind of pious in your attitude, and not the least interested in understanding the other side of the argument, but then that is not unusual for here.

[4 t 4]

42. It is so foolish

whats wrong with all the people that still do it. They must all just be foolish

[Waiting For Everyman]

21. If you get to Harpers Ferry sometime, there are low prices...

Tri-state Exxon:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tri-state-exxon-purcellville

[blues90]

22. It's really a screwed up idea.

On one hand people are told that smokers cost the insurance companies a lot of money and on the other it pays for SCHIP. Then the people who do smoke get fined and beaten with insults and are stuck with more costs.

I smoke but this is at a point where I may quit because of the extra cost and all the heat I took for years by none smokers.

Why not an even playing field with a tax increase to drive a car then everyone pays , hell no focus on someone who is addicted to a drug who would prefer not to be.

[TreasonousBastard]

23. That puts it up to around $6.50 a pack here...

unless you go to the Indian reservation about an hour away.

I gave up smoking two years ago when it went over 5 bucks a pack and I just refused to pay 10-15 bucks a day for a heavy habit.

Tried to quit many times over the years, but the truth is I LIKE the occasional smoke-- just can't stop chain smoking when the occasional smoke I want is done. (There's also the secret pleasure in pissing off the militant non-smokers)

There comes a time, though, when it's just the right time to stop, and the money I was laying out was the reason. Took me two weeks of BJ's cheap nicotine gum and I haven't been seriously tempted since. Sure, there are times when I feel like a smoke, but the feeling goes away, eventually.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

38. Good for you!

I think the longer you're off, the longer you can stay off.

I know that i love the smell of cigarette smoke, but I've honestly never experienced one pang of desire.

If I smoked one, though, it would be far too easy, as you know, to smoke a pack.

:toast: to you...........

[4 t 4]

43. In Chicago it's been at least

8$ for years. Whats wrong with everyone why don't they just quit like quitting heroine or meth whats wrong with everyone I am perfect I don't smoke. I am perfect.

[Sal Minella]

48. A lot of people have told me that quitting cigs is harder than quitting heroin.

Was never on heroin, but I know getting off cigarettes was the hardest thing I ever did.
Would never have made it without the patch.

[Ghost in the Machine]

29. The *only* thing I ever gave Bush credit for was for vetoing SCHIP..

I guess it got ramrodded through with the new administration, huh? It's the same increase as before: .61 cents/pack. It's *still* a stupid idea:

"I Am A Dem Against SCHIP: Let Me Tell You Why"
Tue Oct-16-07 12:40 AM

First off, I think everyone should have medical insurance. I don't want to see children OR adults suffering and/or dying needlessly because they can't afford health care.

The problem with SCHIP is this: They are proposing a 61 cent tax on every pack of cigarettes. This is putting the burden of paying for healthcare for everyone right on the shoulders of smokers.

Now, you might say "so what?" or "who cares" without giving it any rational thought. Especially the non-smokers, but even worse, the anti smoking 'smoke nazis' who would just as soon shoot you for smoking as they would look at you.

The bottom line is this: The Bill is fundamentally flawed in its conception. Smokers are already a dwindling base of tax support. With the new anti smoking laws going into effect in several states, more people will be trying to quit, many of them successfully.

As this tax base shrinks, they are either going to want to raise that tax again..... or find a new tax base. Why don't they just rewrite the Bill a little and expand the tax to alcoholic beverages too? It would make more sense, to begin with. It gives you a broader tax base and a more stable tax base.

I propose a 10 cent per can or bottle tax on beer and a sliding scale tax on bottles of liquor and wine. Maybe start at $1/half pint and go up from there, topping out at $10 on a gallon of liquor or wine.

If you're going to take on the task of insuring America's poor, you should at least have a plan that will sustain itself for more than a couple of years at best.

I also think that there could be a $100/new car sale tax instituted and it would help out way more than 61 cents per pack of cigarettes. I don't know ANY consumer who would haggle over $100 on the price of a new car. This is something to consider seriously.

As a gun owner, I would also support a $25/rifle & $50/pistol tax to go towards insuring the poor, or even universal health care. I've never complained about rising hunting/fishing license costs due to tax increases because I know *that* money goes into conservation/restoration efforts.

There are just so many ways that could make this Bill stronger & better, and built on a better base.

How does this sound to you? Does it sound reasonable?

Think about it....
http://www.congressunderfire.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=109&topic_id=19&mesg_id=19&page=2

It's ok... it'll just make *me* work harder to get them to tax the shit out of *your* alcohol for future revenues....

[CTyankee]

36. I think it is ridiculous to base a tax policy on the people's disapproval

of smoking and other "sins" alone. As a wine consumer, however, and a former smoker I don't have a problem with being taxed more for my wine and keeping taxes out of the picture for daily necessities. I could never understand a state tax on basic food, but I could on such a tax for food consumed in a restaurant. Everybody has to eat; nobody has to eat in a restaurant. Nobody has to smoke or drink wine to exist. Life is less pleasant without wine, IMO, but I am willing to be taxed for my enjoyment.

Just to be totally contrarian with you, I am also the grandmother of a kid that needed that SCHIP program for his health insurance. You don't want to pick a fight with me on THAT, no you don't!

[WillieW]

35. in MD, we already pay $5.00-$5.50

A short trip to VA is worth it. Ciggies are much less expensive there. But I am quitting - Dr.'s orders.

[slackmaster]

37. I think it's stupid to rely on sale of an unhealthful substance to support health care

It seems like a conflict of interests to me.

[FarCenter]

41. Wouldn't the best option be to roll your own without filters?

The least health impact would come from getting the most nicotine with the least smoke from the fewest cigarettes.

Nicotine is what the addict craves, so maximize it. Nicotine is not particularly harmful. The other components of smoke are the health hazards, pretty much regardless of what leaf you're burning.

[Blue-Jay]

49. SMOKER!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

50. SCHIP is a great program, but this is a tax on people making under $250M. I have started to make my

own. It costs about $1 a pack now and will go up to a little over $1.50.

I use cigarette tubes and an injection machine.

[HillbillyBob]

52. Why pick on ME? How bout a yacht tax or tax on those huge houses

cars and air craft favored byt the rich? they can afford it better than I can.
on edit (clicked publish instead of preview)
I have tried over and over to quit. I can get down to 1/2 pack.
I have tried the gum, the mints, holding my breath..
I have tried Chantix, it did not help much, and also led to major seizures, sleep walking(when I could get to sleep and bleeding from my gums from grinding teeth in sleep..I bled so much one night that I soaked my pillow through to the bed, I must have lost a pint of blood or more and D so bad I could not leave the house at all.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

58. Exactly

Tax the filthy rich, not the smokers.

[Withywindle]

66. I hear ya.

Must be nice for all those people who were able to quit SO EASILY and rub that privilege in the face of those of us who aren't so genetically lucky.

I don't even mind paying a little bit extra to fund kids' health care. It'd be better if that was health care for *everyone*, though - I'm a little sick of being told that because I'm a single adult, my life isn't worth the help.

[1]

53. damn! and i was going to quit. now i can't. you know, for the children...

i think its only right to call on my fellow du'ers to get out there and buy some cigarettes. for the children.

toss them, give them away... but please, let's do this for the children.

[book_worm]

54. Good Time to Quit!

I'm sure you are sick of hearing that.

[Marrah_G]

56. I quit jan 1st because of the cost anyway

they are going to fund this with smokers and then there wont be enough smokers to pay the bill.

[SoCalDem]

62. and it goes into effect in 2012, right??

:rofl:

They'll probably figure out a way to make it retroactive & send door-knockers , armed with smoke detectors, going door-to door , to collect for two years back :)

[Squatch]

63. $1.75 over here

or $0.50 for shitty Afghan cigs. Camels and other name-brand smokes go for $1.75 a pack.

[Maru Kitteh]

65. good - fantastic even