Plan for cigarette tax boost spurs support, dissent
Health, revenue gains touted, but smokers, merchants complain
Health, revenue gains touted, but smokers, merchants complain Reaction to a mandate requiring New York state smokers to kick the habit or join the taxpaying elite was largely divided between those who love it and those who hate it Thursday. Area health officials hailed the $1.25-per-pack tax increase as a no-brainer that will raise revenue for public coffers and reduce illness and death, while Southern Tier smokers and their suppliers said the tax poses unreasonable hardship that will cut sales and drive customers across the border. New York state officials expect the increase, part of the tentative state budget, will generate $265 million in additional revenue, much of it to be used for health programs, including smoking cessation. But there are plenty of people, mostly smokers and merchants, who say they are on the losing end of the equation. "This is the only thing they can find that's politically correct to raise the tax on," said Jayesh Desai, owner of Quality Market on Vestal Avenue in Binghamton, where cigarette sales represent 15 to 20 percent of business. It's unfair, he added, because lawmakers are picking on one group. According to studies cited by the American Cancer Society, the most surefire way to get people to quit, especially youths, is to raise prices. A 10 percent increase, for example, is followed by a 6.5 percent reduction in the number of cigarette-smoking youths and a 2 percent reduction of the habit in adults. The increase would make New York's cigarette tax the highest in the nation, raising the average price of Cigarettes by More than 20 percent to More than $6 a pack. Cigarettes cost less than $4.50 on average in northern Pennsylvania. A widely cited national study in 2006, the Tax Burden of Tobacco, shows that a state tax increase is always followed by increased revenues and decreased smoking, even taking into account smuggling and tax avoidance. A $1 per pack rate increase in Montana in 2005, for example, was followed by a 17.8 percent sales decline and $25.1 million in state revenue. Local care providers and health officials praised the initiative Thursday. Sara Delafield, manager for the Center of Community Health for United Health Services, expected the number of people enrolled in the care provider's smoking-cessation program to increase. About 300 people are in the yearlong program, which helps manage a behavioral and pharmaceutical approach to quitting. While young smokers interviewed for this story all said they didn't like the tax increase, some acknowledged it would be a strong incentive to quit. "I think it's baloney," said Briana Parke, 16, a student sitting on a bench across from Binghamton High School exhaling columns of smoke as she indulged in her half-pack-a-day habit. Smoking is a "major stress reliever" for her, she said, but the tax increase is going to make it More likely she will stop "cold turkey." Sharon Fischer, public health educator for the Broome County Department of Health, characterized the tax increase as a politically popular move that will raise money, reduce health care costs and save lives. There is little disputing that the number of youths who smoke is dropping. A survey released in 2007 by the KYDS Coalition found the percentage of students who had a cigarette within 30 days of answering the survey dropped from 13.4 percent in 2002 to 12.7 percent in 2006. The survey was completed by 5,498 seventh-through-12th-graders in Broome and Tioga counties. Numbers cited by the Broome County Department of Health show a decline of cigarette sales directly proportional to price increases since 1970. But these numbers only tell part of the tale, according to people opposed to the idea. Desai expects the tax will hurt business, as people go to Pennsylvania for cigarette purchases, a location that also offers cheaper gas. Low-income cigarette addicts, who can't afford transportation across the border or the capital to purchase Cigarettes by the carton, will be stuck paying the tax, he said. Quitting seems like a logical answer. But it's not easy. Some advocates compare cigarette habits to cocaine in terms of price, with a pack-a-day smoker spending between $150 and $180 a month, $2,000 a year or More. And the addiction can be insidious because Cigarettes are so widely available. It is illegal for Amber Boyce, 16, a student at Binghamton High School, to purchase them. But she has no trouble getting them and is not afraid to light up in public. The tax increase is a lousy idea, she said, and it will not stop her from smoking. It calms her down. "I like smoking. Nothing is going to stop me," she said.