“My fear is once they start taxing that, they’ll start taxing everything,” Mr. Meyers said.
Yep that is exactly what will happen sooner rather then later
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 07/28/2006 10:41:52 AM PDT by Namyak
Montage Tobacco Co. owner Mark Brier says there’s no denying little cigars have become an appealing alternative to cigarettes for smokers on a budget.
The 49-year-old Dunmore resident pulled a pack of Smokin’ Joes little cigars off a rack Thursday at his Davis Street shop and flipped it over to reveal the price: 89 cents. A pack of the least expensive cigarettes he sells sets a smoker back more than three bucks.
“It’s price. It’s strictly the price,” Mr. Brier said of the popularity of little cigars. “They’re not overtaking cigarettes by any means, but they are going.”
Wrapped in brown instead of white paper, little cigars are the same size as cigarettes, have filters like cigarettes and are sold in 20-cigar packs like cigarettes. The big difference is they are not taxed or regulated like cigarettes.
State officials across the nation want to change that.
The attorneys general of Pennsylvania and 39 other states have asked the federal government to close a loophole that allows the little smokes to be classified as cigars, arguing that — the brown wrapping aside — they are cigarettes in everything but name.
“In a nutshell, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” said Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.
As recently as four years ago, Mr. Brier said Montage Tobacco sold maybe one pack of little cigars for every 300 packs of cigarettes. Today, that ratio is one to 100. Over the same period, the little cigar varieties on sale at the shop have burgeoned, from fewer than 20 to more than 50.
Under current federal rules, tobacco manufacturers decide whether their product is a cigar or a cigarette. If it’s a cigar, it is not subject to the $1.35-a-pack tax or the public health restrictions Pennsylvania places on cigarettes, Mr Frederiksen said.
That’s only part of the concern, he said. Many little cigars are flavored, which combined with the low price — usually one-third to one-half the price of cigarettes — makes them appealing to young smokers.
“If you want to sell cigars, fine,” Mr. Frederiksen said. “If you want to wrap a cigarette in brown paper and call it a little cigar, that’s different.”
Steamtown Cigar Club on Spruce Street, which specializes in traditional hand-rolled cigars, doesn’t carry little cigars. Owner John Meyers agrees the small cigars are essentially cigarettes, but he’d still hate to see them taxed.
“My fear is once they start taxing that, they’ll start taxing everything,” Mr. Meyers said.
Mr. Brier said some of his little cigar customers prefer cigarettes because they are more flavorful, but they stick with the alternative smokes because they are cheaper. There’s no question in his mind what would happen to little cigars if they were taxed the same as cigarettes.
“They’d disappear,” he said. “They’d just disappear.”
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com
Hey, go do your homework. You have a reading assignment...LOL
Good price for them. But, most every online tobacco seller now is required to report who is buying online from them to the satte the buyer lives in, so the state can "collect" appropriate taxes.
I used to buy online but stopped when Washington State went after online buyers, hitting them for back taxes and hefty fines as well.
This ne push for taxes should wake people up as to what is the real motive, MONEY! But I doubt it will open the eyes of any smoke gnatzie.
Cigar and pipe smoke is not usually inhaled. The nicotine is absorbed by the gums, not the lungs, and a cigarette-style addiction doesn't usually develop. A study once showed that men who smoke cigars and pipes live longer than those who don't, and non-PC life insurance companies do not charge smoker rates for cigar and pipe smokers because there's little actuary evidence that they subtract significantly from lifespan. Cigars and pipes should not be taxed like cigarettes which use a light Virginia tobacco easy to inhale.
I finished the assignment this morning.......just haven't finished editting it yet.............
lol
>>You are in MI?<<
Yes!
I thought I remembered that - I had a dream, once, that cigs in MI got to $40 a carton. So I sold every thing I owned in MI, and left.
“In a nutshell, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” said Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett."
Holy moly, that makes me feel real good.
I love knowing the decisions they make that affect our everyday lives are based on this kind of solid-as-a-rock logic.
Idiots and theives, all of them.
Hush! Quiet! Don't give 'em any ideas!
Admin mod. Delete post #13! Hide the evidence! KarlInOhio never said it!
Thanks for the ping!
This has to be stopped.
Party poopers.
“My fear is once they start taxing that, they’ll start taxing everything,” Mr. Meyers said.
Yep that is exactly what will happen sooner rather then later
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.