[YOMO]

Cigarette sales in New York plummeted almost 50 percent in July .........The new tax, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg supported to help close a record budget gap.............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.........

Cigarette sales drop not predicted by politicans? I don't think so. So now where are they going to make up the BUDGET DEFICIT? It figures that they would need a study to figure out when you tax the $hit out of a product finally people will stop buying a legal product. OK guys what is next to be taxed?

[TomGuy]

Cigarette sales in New York plummeted almost 50 percent in July

tax the $hit out of a product finally people will stop buying a legal product.

Cigarette [blackmarket and internet] sales in New York plummeted [increased] almost 50 percent in July.

Visualizing....coming attraction:
Dark alleyway
Late at night
Clandestined meeting
Strangers voices
Hey, Mac...
Sorry, no Mac...Burger King, though
How much?
$7.50
With fries?
Yeh, ok, but the catsup's extra.
Let me have 2 orders. $15 bucks! Well, that's still half what they are now with the new fast-food-anti-fat-for-your-health-city-needs-revenue tax.

[Kozak]

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.

You really should read the article. Even thogh they dropped sales by 50% the tax rate is something like 18X greater. So unfortunately they made more money.

[Conservative til I die]

So now where are they going to make up the BUDGET DEFICIT?

You don't understand. Cigarette sales dropped 50% yet tax revenues rose, because the tax was raised about 2000%.

If you sell 200 boxes of cigarettes with a 10 cent tax, and then you sell 100 boxes of cigarettes with a $2.00 tax, which makes the city more money?

Of course, the city only cares about the tax. The 50% drop in sales is on cigarette packs which is where the delis and bodegas make the money. So they're the ones getting hurt.