Cigarette Tax Burnout

[cwo_ghwebb]

Politicians in Annapolis are scratching their heads wondering what happened to all those chain smokers who were supposed to help balance Maryland's budget. Last year the legislature doubled the cigarette tax to $2 a pack to pay for expanded health-care coverage. Eight months later, cigarette sales have plunged 25% and the state is in fiscal distress again.

A few pols are pretending to be happy that 30 million fewer cigarette packs have been bought in the state so far this year. As House Majority Leader Kumar Barve put it, fewer people smoking is "a good thing." Yes, except that Maryland may be losing retail sales more than smokers. Residents of Maryland's Washington suburbs can shop in nearby Virginia, where the tax is only 30 cents a pack, and save at least $15 per carton.

The Maryland pols are so afraid this is true that they've made it a crime for residents to carry two packs of cigarettes that weren't purchased in the state. In other words, the state says it's legal to smoke, so long as you use cigarettes that the government can tax and thus become a financial partner in your bad habit. But if you dare to buy smokes across state lines, you can be fined.

Any person with half a brain could see this was going to happen.

Cigarette Tax Burnout - WSJ.com



But then again, these politicians are so much smarter than the peons they govern.

[RadioPatrol]

I read somewhere NYC had the same issue when they raised the tax something like $5 .... corner stores that had been open for decades .... suddenly shut down .... no one stopping in to by Smokes and getting that bag of chips and a soda anymore ...........


so it is illegal for me to buy a carton of smokes in VA ?

Nice .....

[cwo_ghwebb]

I like how the pols label the tax as a 'sin' tax, for an activity that is perfectly legal. I believe the folks in Annapolis don't know the meaning of the word.

On a side note: what happened to that idea of separation of church and state? If these pols are going to label legal activities as sinful, are they usurping the role of a church?

[Beelzebaby666]

I can't help but laugh at this.

Taxing smokers because it has negative health effects is like swatting flies with a feather.

Cancer is gonna get ya if it's gonna get ya, smoking helps but plenty of kids get cancer too.
All those chain-smoking 4 year olds are stumping the politicians

They've gone the wrong way about fixing a problem as usual. Instead of cleaning up the air and aiding the health care crisis by say, cleaning up GIANT corporate smoke stacks and filtering money in to researching a cure for cancer, they target the four inch sticks that financed entire states and are consumed by individuals of their own free will.

I smoke, but I don't care if they ban them. They may be cheaper than Prozac, but if I had no smokes, I'd deal with it.

[ironintestines]

Eff Maryland.

I try to buy everything that I need/want, that I possibly can, in other states. Smokes, beer, whiskey, food, lumber, animal feed, farm supplies, ect. If I could get electricity elsewhere, I'd put a tourniquet on that ulcerated sore also.

The 2-pack limit law is nothing new. They're just pizzed that their "new" money generating tax scheme isn't doing as well as "they" anticipated..

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see revenuers laid in the bushes in VA, glassing some poor MD resident exiting Sheetz w/ a carton of smokes & radioing to the command post in MD "White Ford Explorer, tag # XXX XXX, the birds are in the nest, I repeat, the birds are in the nest"..

Makes me wonder if I make it all the way home, will the cops bust in my door & shoot my dogs because I, in their terms, buttlegged a carton of smokes??

[toppick08 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by ironintestines

Eff Maryland.

I try to buy everything that I need/want, that I possibly can, in other states. Smokes, beer, whiskey, food, lumber, animal feed, farm supplies, ect. If I could get electricity elsewhere, I'd put a tourniquet on that ulcerated sore also.

The 2-pack limit law is nothing new. They're just pizzed that their "new" money generating tax scheme isn't doing as well as "they" anticipated..

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see revenuers laid in the bushes in VA, glassing some poor MD resident exiting Sheetz w/ a carton of smokes & radioing to the command post in MD "White Ford Explorer, tag # XXX XXX, the birds are in the nest, I repeat, the birds are in the nest"..

Makes me wonder if I make it all the way home, will the cops bust in my door & shoot my dogs because I, in their terms, buttlegged a carton of smokes??

..Well I plan on buttleggin' 5 cartoons by the end of the week....

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

Originally Posted by cwo_ghwebb

I like how the pols label the tax as a 'sin' tax, for an activity that is perfectly legal. I believe the folks in Annapolis don't know the meaning of the word.

On a side note: what happened to that idea of separation of church and state? If these pols are going to label legal activities as sinful, are they usurping the role of a church?

That's a good point!

[Chain729 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by cwo_ghwebb

Politicians in Annapolis are scratching their heads wondering what happened to all those chain smokers who were supposed to help balance Maryland's budget. Last year the legislature doubled the cigarette tax to $2 a pack to pay for expanded health-care coverage. Eight months later, cigarette sales have plunged 25% and the state is in fiscal distress again.

A few pols are pretending to be happy that 30 million fewer cigarette packs have been bought in the state so far this year. As House Majority Leader Kumar Barve put it, fewer people smoking is "a good thing." Yes, except that Maryland may be losing retail sales more than smokers. Residents of Maryland's Washington suburbs can shop in nearby Virginia, where the tax is only 30 cents a pack, and save at least $15 per carton.

The Maryland pols are so afraid this is true that they've made it a crime for residents to carry two packs of cigarettes that weren't purchased in the state. In other words, the state says it's legal to smoke, so long as you use cigarettes that the government can tax and thus become a financial partner in your bad habit. But if you dare to buy smokes across state lines, you can be fined.

Any person with half a brain could see this was going to happen.

Cigarette Tax Burnout - WSJ.com



But then again, these politicians are so much smarter than the peons they govern.

It was illegal to carry more than two packs across state lines long before the sales tax was doubled.

[Pete (Premo)]

Originally Posted by ironintestines

Eff Maryland.

I try to buy everything that I need/want, that I possibly can, in other states. Smokes, beer, whiskey, food, lumber, animal feed, farm supplies, ect. If I could get electricity elsewhere, I'd put a tourniquet on that ulcerated sore also.

The 2-pack limit law is nothing new. They're just pizzed that their "new" money generating tax scheme isn't doing as well as "they" anticipated..

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see revenuers laid in the bushes in VA, glassing some poor MD resident exiting Sheetz w/ a carton of smokes & radioing to the command post in MD "White Ford Explorer, tag # XXX XXX, the birds are in the nest, I repeat, the birds are in the nest"..

Makes me wonder if I make it all the way home, will the cops bust in my door & shoot my dogs because I, in their terms, buttlegged a carton of smokes??

[Pete (Premo)]

Look, some liberals get it! Lower the taxes, get more revenue! Freaking magic.

In Washington State, evasion was so rampant that the legislature decided in 2005 to lower the 75% tax on cigars and other tobacco products as a way to raise revenue and help state retailers.