On Jun 27, 1:13 am, "¥ UltraMan ¥" <
u...@man.jp> wrote:
> Between puffs, smokers grumbling over $2 tax
> Ed Stannard , Register Metro Editor
>
> The way Robin Francis sees it, she and her business are major pillars
> holding up the Connecticut economy.
>
> If the state cigarette tax hits $2 a pack, which it looks like it's going to
> do, Cigarette Express, the store she manages on Captain Thomas Boulevard in
> West Haven, will be an essential cog in keeping the state running.
>
> "Without my money, where would they get their money?" she asked Thursday,
> with only a bit of irony.
>
> But what's even worse, from a cigarette dealer's point of view, is that, as
> the price of a pack keeps rising, she becomes more vulnerable.
>
> Focusing her anger on Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Francis said, "Now she's
> making cigarette stores more of a target for robberies. ... It's more
> lucrative for people to steal the cigarettes than to get the money."
>
> In fact, a couple of years ago, a masked man hit her store during a delivery
> and made off with $500 worth of cigarettes. The black market doesn't charge
> taxes, she pointed out.
>
> The 2007-08 state budget being worked out by Rell and the
> Democratic-controlled General Assembly calls for a 49-cent increase in the
> state cigarette tax, up about a third from its current rate of $1.51. It's
> the only tax legislators are planning to change.
>
> Suggesting that more of the financial load is being borne by a shrinking
> population of smokers, Francis said, "I thought that the tax burden was
> supposed to be carried by the majority. Now we're considered a minority.
> It's discrimination."
>
> In fact, the $86.4 million the cigarette tax would raise is less than 0.5
> percent of the state budget, which will be higher than Rell's original
> proposal of $17.5 billion. But to a smoker who pays $4.50 to $6 a pack, it's
> a big blow.
>
> "It's bad enough that they keep going up on gas," said Gary Liston, who
> works at Cafe 9 in New Haven and has been smoking since he was 17. "It's my
> one enjoyment, a smoke and a beer. ... They're going to tax me till I'm
> dead."
>
> While tobacco is a known health threat, it's not the only one. "I think they
> should tax the alcohol and leave the cigarettes alone," said Ray Marcell of
> East Haven who, at 51, has been smoking 30 years.
>
> How high would the price of smokes have to go before people would conquer
> their addiction? Several people said $10 would do it for them, but one woman
> from Wallingford, who wouldn't give her name, refused to admit that she'd
> quit at even $15.
>
> "I said I was going to quit when it hit $3," she said while puffing outside
> Union Station in New Haven.
>
> "I think cigarette smokers are an easy target," said Brian Lima of New
> Haven. "I think anything above $7 a pack is going to force a cigarette black
> market."
>
> At $2 a pack, Connecticut would be one of eight states to charge at least
> that much, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators. The highest?
> New Jersey, at $2.57½.
>
> But Lou Davitt of Stratford said the tax increase won't affect him. He's
> wearing a nicotine patch and plans to quit after 44 years of smoking. He has
> to, he said. He has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
>
> "I started at three packs (a day). I'm down to four or five cigarettes a
> day." Smoking is "just a habit; I don't enjoy it," Davitt said.
>
> Ed Martinez of New Haven isn't concerned about the cigarette tax either. He
> rolls his own with Drum Halfzware Shag, a loose tobacco. "I can buy an
> ounce-and-a-half for $3. It'll last me about three days," Martinez said. "If
> you can get around it, get around it," he said of the state tax.
>
> While Connecticut's cigarette tax increase is a big jump, pity the smokers
> in Arkansas. The tax there is scheduled to hit $2 also on July 1 - up from
> 59 cents.
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