Don’t hold your breath, anti-smoking crusaders.
As of March 1st, cigarette sales in Cook County,
Illinois, include an extra $1
per pack in taxes. Supposedly, the county coffers are expected to draw in
an extra $25.6
million annually from the increase.
Gasp!
Gasp!
I admit it. I don’t
smoke.
OK, as a teen, I may have once anted up 40 cents on a dare
for a pack of smokes with a bunch of
classmates. I may have plunked the coins into a cigarette vending machine in a
dark entryway to a truck stop restaurant on a junior high school field trip to
the State Capitol. (Yes, it was a long time ago.)
But I never inhaled. (Bet you’ve heard that before.)
Cigarette costs don’t affect me directly, but they could
impact plenty of folks we know and love. Today, a pack of cigarettes may cost $7
to $10 or more, depending upon tobacco brand, purchasing location, and applicable
taxes.
Groups like Tobacco-Free
Kids have expressed their hopes that the new Cook County cigarette tax
increase would deter youngsters from starting to smoke. Others hope existing tobacco lovers will simply stop smoking.
We all know smoking is
dangerous and unhealthy. Maybe this will be the last straw, at least in
Chicagoland, and cause a few would-be smokers to see the light.
Still, smokers can be a determined lot.
Still, smokers can be a determined lot.
Will smokers quit or
pay the extra tax?
Gee, for $7 to $10, a smoker could skip the pack of cigs and pick up
something healthier, like a fast-food cheeseburger and fries or a couple of drive-through
tacos.
No, wait. I meant fresh fruit and vegetables. (Sure, I did.)
Perhaps the issue is
clouded by geography.
After all, smokers may choose to travel to neighboring
counties or across state lines to buy their smokes a bit cheaper. They might order
them online. If they do, Cook County tobacco taxes (and retail revenues from cigarette sales) may go up in a puff of … well, you know.
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- U.S. Surgeon General Says 1st and 2nd-hand Tobacco Smoke Causes Immediate Damage – by Linda Ann Nickerson. 1st- and 2nd-hand tobacco smoke causes immediate harm, according to a December 9th U.S. Surgeon General report. This is the 30th Surgeon General report to warn about the health dangers of tobacco.
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Image/s:
Smoker by Intuitives
Stock.Xchng Photos
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