Just got back from voting for only conservitives in the Kansas primaries. It's time to take this state back from the RINOs! 
Posted on 08/06/2002 3:31:28 AM PDT by kattracks
NEW YORK, Aug 06, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Cigarette sales in New York plummeted almost 50 percent in July after the city raised the tax on each pack from 8 cents to $1.50, according to new figures from the city's department of finance.
New Yorkers purchased 15.6 million cigarette packs last month, down from 29.2 million packs in July 2001. But because the tax was so much higher, millions more tax dollars poured into city coffers - $12.3 million, compared to $2.3 million during the same period last year.
The new tax, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg supported to help close a record budget gap, drove the price of some name brands to more than $7 per pack.
There are no studies yet to determine whether New Yorkers are quitting smoking or simply taking other avenues to fix their nicotine cravings, such as online mail order buys or trips out of town.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Jeez, AP, do a poll like you always do. You know what the answer is, why don't you want to report it?
Just got back from voting for only conservitives in the Kansas primaries. It's time to take this state back from the RINOs!
Why would you think smokers are squirming, I am having fun with this.
And by the way, smokers were for the most part considerate, until fanatic anti smokers took center stage.
Don't be so darned smug.
Biker - please accept my apologies. That was a section of the new tax of which I was unaware.
So you have found a conservative issue to claim as your own. And what a convientient issue it is. While you can claim to be conservative you never have to say anything good about any conservative because he doesn't measure up on your one issue because in this day and age nobody cuts spending and lives to get re-elected.
I'm the only conservative here.
I am not the one who want's marijuana leagalized, nor do I approve of women having premarital sex by the dozens!!!!!! I have not defended liberals nor do I dispise our current president. But you have done all of these things.
How would you know? Nobody's tried, except Bloomberg and we'll have to wait and see.
The Republicans came into congress in 94 with a great contract, and they attempted to implement some of it, and reined in spending for a few years. They were elected big time in 94 because they said they'd actually rein in government. But then they became wannabee democrats, like they are now. We'll see whether that gets them reelected or not. I think that if they actually cut spending and reined in government, they'd be massively elected.
You are undoubtedly correct, but the article said "after the city raised the tax on each pack from 8 cents to $1.50" indicating NYC got all of the increase.
Just so we're all clear, the amount of the increase is $21 million. The total tax collected was $23.4 million.
New Yorkers purchased 15.6 million cigarette packs last month,
No, TAX STAMPS for 15.6 million packs were purchased last month.
They way the system works (at least in GA, I'm assuming it is similar in NY) is this. A wholesaler purchases the stamps and applys them to the packs that are sitting in their warehouse. They are then distributed to stores who have to stock them and then sell them to customers. There can be as much as a 30 day lag time between the time the stamps are ordered and someone acutally buys the pack to smoke.
This first order of stamps by wholesalers was just an estimated guess of how many they would need. It will take several months to determine how this has really affected sales.
This fails to take into account the lost tax revenue in other areas.
Gasoline, beer, and cigarettes are the "drivers" of convience stores (they are the reason people visit those stores in the first place.) Since they are there anyway, they go ahead and purchase additonal items (bread, soft drinks, milk, aspirin, magazines, newspapers, etc...)
How many of these additonal sales are being lost by the store because fewer people are stopping to buy cigarettes? Who knows, but the taxes associated with the sale of those items (sales tax, business income tax) are lost and certainly offset the increased tax revenue from the cigarettes.
Way to go Bahbah! Thank you! 
It was pretty funny in a perverse sort of way. They seemed to think this was unprecedented or somesuch. Many states are using the money towards budget deficits and tax cuts. The smoking nazis (that's what the are) have opened a can of worms here for sure. I expect to see tobacco largely criminalized in my lifetime and the modus operendi utilized for anything and everything deemed 'bad' by the intelligentsia. Way to go, guys.
I'm not sure that tobacco will be criminilized but the modus operendi is ALREADY being used.
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