Cigarette Price Watch

Both Alabama and California may vote on bills raising the cost of a pack of cigarettes by $1. Each state has a different reason, but the main goal is to increase taxes for governments short on money during the recession. California actually has one of the lower cigarette taxes around, compared to states like New York, which has a very high tax rate. Alabama also has a low tax rate on tobacco. As far as whether these bills pass or not, it’s still to be seen.

As reported a few weeks ago at Cigarette Price Watch, Island Smokes, a cigarette shop in New York has been forced to close by the courts for operating a business that allowed customers to bypass tobacco taxes by creating their own cigarettes in the store. I was hoping this store could defeat the courts, as a victory against unreasonable cigarette taxes. Unfortunately, they have been shut down pretty quickly.

Efforts by anti-smoking groups in Idaho are seeking to raise state cigarette taxes by $1.25 this year. Idaho has fairly low tobacco taxes at only 57 cents per pack, but may not be for long if this legislation passes. Idaho has always been a lower tax state in general, but the growing calls for exorbitant taxes on tobacco products are even coming to places like Boise.

A number of major cigarette manufacturers in the United States are raising their per-pack prices by 9 cents soon. Altria, Reynolds American and Lorillard, which are the 3 largest producers of cigarettes are behind the price increases. Although it’s only 9 cents, it’s still important that they want to raise them at all. Many major brands like Marlboro will be affected by the cost increases. Cigarette taxes, on the other hand, have increased less than in recent years.

In Long Island, Island Smokes allows customers to roll their own cigarettes with a store machine. They buy the tobacco and the cigarette tubes, and for a much reduced price, can have several packs of cigarettes. The city government doesn’t like it and is going after them. See, you can do this yourself if you buy bulk tobacco and cigarette tubes, for much less cost. This story has provided the services for people to do that. They may end up being sued, but there will probably be more of these type of places in the future if tobacco taxes remain so high in places like New York City.