Lawmakers Eye Tobacco Tax Hike

For the first time in five years, state lawmakers are looking at raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. The additional revenue would go to fund health care programs in Georgia, said Rep.

[Amy]

Cigarette smuggling has become big business in areas with draconian cigarette taxes. It has been estimated that only 10% of the cigarettes consumed in New York City are legal tax paid cigarettes. The rest are bootleg.

States that have passed exhorbitant taxes on tobacco have not seen a financial windfall. New York's experience is that revenues from lawful cigarette sales have fallen. Bootleggers, organized crime, however, has seen its revenues skyrocket thanks to these ill advised taxes.

[DLink]

Tax sex. aka procreation, and it would have as much effect. Tax speeding, tax life, tax living.

How about taxing the people who make millions through conning others to work for a living. OH YEAH, tax break for them. I simply forgot what country I was in. More billionaires than anywhere. Gotta wait 'till a billionaire dies before anyone gets, oh wait, tax break - for undercompensating a generation of people....

Doesn't govn't know that will create a serious recession, economic imbalance, anger, and violence?

Guess not.

[Brad]

Choke on it, smokers! At least now, by God, we can eat in a restaurant without choking on your smoke, since your 'weed' is no longer welcome!

You could quit smoking, you know?

[Mystic]

Well this is what happens when the settlement money from the tobacco lawsuit is used for special projects and not as intended which was to fund prevention and health care. Better yet I have never known anyone that the state paid for their health care and I have friends that need health care but cant get it

[Mel in ATL]

Keep your grubby little political hands out of MY POCKET!!!!!

[Ga Boy]

Finally! A tax that applies only to the fools who participate in it, and not the entire public!

Like Brad says, choke on it, smokers!

[JillianJ]

Brad and Ga Boy...you're right. It is about time that these smokers pay for their own damage. I wonder how MANY people get 'free' health care after they have lung cancer from smoking! It is BS that non-smokers get to take care of the smokers. We did not put the butt in their mouth and light it while pointing a gun at them saying 'smoke it'!

You choose to smoke you should pay for the aftermath of the nasty habit!

[Frank]

JillianJ wrote:

Brad and Ga Boy...you're right. It is about time that these smokers pay for their own damage. I wonder how MANY people get 'free' health care after they have lung cancer from smoking! It is BS that non-smokers get to take care of the smokers. We did not put the butt in their mouth and light it while pointing a gun at them saying 'smoke it'!
You choose to smoke you should pay for the aftermath of the nasty habit!

Yep, and they also need to apply the $1 tax on alcohol. How many tax dollars are used to treat alcohics and disease related conditions associated with it??

[Frank]

sorry "alcoholics"

[Andrew]

we need our cigerette's, if you put a higher tax on cigerette's then there will be less money in our pockets. sure it will prevent a few people from smoking but for the rest of we will be getting punished for other people taxing a product that only a certain portian of people use. the non-smoking people will get the benefits of our tazx dollars but all we lose is more money.

This bill will anger many people and should be left up to the people to decide, not a bunch of senetors!!!

[Andrew]

Brad wrote:

Choke on it, smokers! At least now, by God, we can eat in a restaurant without choking on your smoke, since your 'weed' is no longer welcome!
You could quit smoking, you know?

who are you to tell me if i get to smoke or not, you have no right to get into others business. raising a tax on cigerettes will benefit non-smokers but will it help the economy, no. all it would do is piss off people.
and what's with the weed comment

[Owen Hoskins]

Smoking is something we can choose to do or not. WE are aware of the consiquences of smoking and we accept that risk. But why choose tobacco? Most of these comments are from people who are so into everyone elses business that they cant see that the main reason. Which is to raise health care programs. Your are doing nothing with your comments accept judging us not even answering the statement being aske. The real answer is it is a good idea to raise the price of cigerettes for health care prohrams but smoking is my choice not yours. I have my opinion on it and every one has their resons for doing it. But where do you get off telling we should or shouldent smoke take someone else into opinion besides yourself

[JillianJ]

Andrew wrote:

we need our cigerette's, if you put a higher tax on cigerette's then there will be less money in our pockets. sure it will prevent a few people from smoking but for the rest of we will be getting punished for other people taxing a product that only a certain portian of people use. the non-smoking people will get the benefits of our tazx dollars but all we lose is more money.
This bill will anger many people and should be left up to the people to decide, not a bunch of senetors!!!

SO QUIT SMOKING SMART GUY! IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD IT...DON'T DO IT! GEESH! How would non-smokers gain from it? Besides the fact that we won't be paying for your tush in the hospital getting treatments to prolong your life from bad lungs due to smoking. You do not NEED to smoke. You NEED water, food, clothing and shelter. Smoking is a luxury. You can quit, it will be hard, but you can do it.

[Andrew]

JillianJ wrote:

Brad and Ga Boy...you're right. It is about time that these smokers pay for their own damage. I wonder how MANY people get 'free' health care after they have lung cancer from smoking! It is BS that non-smokers get to take care of the smokers. We did not put the butt in their mouth and light it while pointing a gun at them saying 'smoke it'!
You choose to smoke you should pay for the aftermath of the nasty habit!

how are you paying for us, we choose to smoke. We don't get free health care or any of that. people are so focused on thye little things like second hand smoke and raising taxes that they don't see the real problem, the peoples right to chose what goes on in their gov't. we should chose what the taxes come from, not the congressmen.

[JillianJ]

Andrew wrote:

<quoted text>
who are you to tell me if i get to smoke or not, you have no right to get into others business. raising a tax on cigerettes will benefit non-smokers but will it help the economy, no. all it would do is piss off people.
and what's with the weed comment

OH Sweet Sweet Andrew....you are not being told if you can or can not smoke. It just makes things more difficult for you to do so. Plus it is much healthier for you, sugar, so we can listen to you be upset and moody if you have not had your smoke and are irritated...
Bless your heart.

[JillianJ]

Andrew wrote:

<quoted text>
how are you paying for us, we choose to smoke. We don't get free health care or any of that. people are so focused on thye little things like second hand smoke and raising taxes that they don't see the real problem, the peoples right to chose what goes on in their gov't. we should chose what the taxes come from, not the congressmen.

Taxes pay for health care for those that cannot afford it. You are already complaining about a dollar increase...in turn, I (a non-smoker) pay taxes and therefore I pay for the healthcare that one cannot afford. Perhaps you could afford the health care, but what about those that cannot?

[justiceforall]

I don't drink coffee but I know a lot of people who do. Let's put a state tax on coffee and bring in some big money. Also, let's put a state tax on fast food. My health insurance rates keep going up because of all the fat people who eat at fast food restaurants and eventually have heart attacks. While we're at it, let's tax people who go to church on Sundays. If they stayed home, think how much auto pollution would not be released into the atmosphere.
By the way, I don't smoke.

[southillinois]

I'm not a smoker. But isn't this called an excessive tax? Isn't this one of the reasons why people came to America at the start was due to high British tax. Tax are way to high on everything. It is time to complain about all of them. Before its to late. Soon there will be more tax then what the product is worth.

[scoon66]

Amy wrote:

Cigarette smuggling has become big business in areas with draconian cigarette taxes. It has been estimated that only 10% of the cigarettes consumed in New York City are legal tax paid cigarettes. The rest are bootleg.
States that have passed exhorbitant taxes on tobacco have not seen a financial windfall. New York's experience is that revenues from lawful cigarette sales have fallen. Bootleggers, organized crime, however, has seen its revenues skyrocket thanks to these ill advised taxes.

Having smoked in and around NYC, its true that a lot of people smoke bootleg cigarettes. However , that 10% is an extreme exaggeration.

[Email]

Brad wrote:

Choke on it, smokers! At least now, by God, we can eat in a restaurant without choking on your smoke, since your 'weed' is no longer welcome!
You could quit smoking, you know?

Brad, bet you are a fat ass, why not tax all that food you eat at those restaurants you go to where the smokers are 'doing it' just to piss you off.

Obesity is way ahead of smokers when it comes to health cost. So how do the fat asses of the world get away with it?

By the way, I don't smoke, and am not a fat ass either.