New York Cigarette Tax Now Highest in the Nation

When I quit smoking, the generic brand of cigarettes I smoked cost $3.50 a pack...peanuts compared to what residents of New York will be paying after today's state-wide tax hike of $1.25 per pack. This latest state levy on cigarettes brings the total tax per pack to $2.75, but if you live in New York City, you pay an additional $1.50 tax on every pack of cigarettes you buy, bringing your total tax to $4.25. Add to that the cost of the cigarettes themselves, and New Yorkers are looking at prices high enough to break the bank - $6 to $10 a pack.

Let's run a few numbers...

The average smoker goes through a pack of cigarettes each day, and let's say those cigarettes cost $7.00 a pack. On a weekly basis, that means New Yorkers will now be shelling out $50 to smoke; monthly, $200 or more...yearly, $2500. Two packs a day and that number is up to $5000 a year...all to feed an addiction that slowly destroys quality of life while it kills us.

What a bargain.

Perhaps the most effective way to cut tobacco use is to simply make tobacco products too expensive to buy. When faced with putting food on the table or smoking, people start to get serious about quitting. And, along with the personal incentive that raising taxes provides, cigarette taxes directly benefit governments through increased revenue that can then be used for tobacco-related programs. Tobacco taxes have the ability to ease the burden of health care for people sick with tobacco-related diseases and fund programs to help people quit smoking.

New York Quits Smoking Day

In conjunction with this latest cigarette tax hike, New York Governor David A. Paterson has announced that June 3rd will be known as "New York Quits Smoking Day." He encourages New Yorkers to consider quitting and to make use of the state's many free smoking cessation resources.

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States today, with cigarette smoking being directly linked to 87 percent of lung cancer deaths and 30 percent of heart disease deaths. If you're still smoking, don't offer any more of your precious life over to a product that kills half of those who use it.

Quit smoking now.

New York's Two 'Top Docs' Urge New Yorkers to Quit Smoking as New Cigarette Tax Goes into Effect - New York State Dept. of Health

Related:

• $9.50 a Pack! - Forum Discussion

• Your Quit Smoking Toolbox

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