Yet Another Reason to Stop Smoking

A pack of cigarettes will soon cost nearly $11 in New York City.

The state legislature on Monday approved a bill adding an additional state tax of $1.60 to every pack sold, effective July 1. This bill, which was signed by Gov. David Paterson on Monday, will raise the state tax to $4.35 per pack. That makes the Empire State’s tax on smokes the highest in the nation.

New York City smokers pay an additional municipal tax of $1.50 per pack, for a current total tax of $4.25 per pack. That’s the highest state-local tax whammy in the country, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Chicago is the runner-up, at $3.66 per pack.

This new tax increase means that smokers in the city will pay $5.85 per pack in taxes. This drives the average local price up to nearly $11 per pack, according to some estimates.

Maybe, however, even these taxes aren’t high enough. A SmartMoney story offers some stats indicating that the health problems caused by smoking actually amount to over $7 per pack:

A decade ago, the World Bank put the health-care costs associated with tobacco use at 1.1% of gross domestic product in rich countries, or about one out of every $15 the U.S. spends on health care. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that smoking-related health problems cost more than $7 per cigarette pack sold in the U.S.

Survey: Costco Given Retail Crown for Best Shopping Experience

American consumers don’t just like buying in bulk—they like the shopping experience at one bulk-buying warehouse store a lot more compared to other retailers. Based on the results of a new survey, Costco has been named the retailer scoring the highest overall ratings with shoppers.

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One way to avoid having to pay high tobacco taxes is by finding an alternative to tobacco smoking that does not have costs almost on a par with cigarettes as the nicotine patch and gum do.

Electronic cigarettes produce no smoke – only a water-based vapor that does not leave bad smells in clothes or hair. They cannot cause a fire when using them as nothing burns. They leave no tar in the lungs. My mother has not touched a regular cigarette since trying the electronic cigarette I got her from CleanGreenNicotine.com.

I had been trying to get her to quit for as long as I can remember. She had been a smoker for 50 years. It is a joy to be able to be around her without the smells, the ashtray, and the exposure to cigarette smoke.
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This may help some of the lighter smokers (10 cigarettes or less) to stop smoking. But what about the heavier smokers? Also, there are all sorts of different ways in which a smoker can purchase a pack of cigarettes. Living close to the Mexican border, I would cross back and forth at times with purchased cartons of cigarettes because they were a much better deal in Mexico than the U.S. Now that I am no longer a smoker, I don’t have to do this anymore. What helped me kick the habit is “Speed Limits to a No Smoking Zone.” Check it out at http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/SpeedLimitstoaNoSmokingZone.html.
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