What editorial writers are saying about increasing tobacco taxes

The federal tax hike is considered by backers, including the AMA, to be a victory in the fight to stop smoking an improve children's health. But opponents wonder whether the tax is unfair.

Time to clear the air

Along the mythical route known as Tobacco Road, what is happening today -- and may happen beyond -- would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Effective today, the federal tobacco excise tax will rise 62 cents per pack to fund children's health care. At the same time, state lawmakers are seriously considering a smoking ban in all public buildings, bars and restaurants. ... Meanwhile, Gov. Bev Perdue wants to increase the cigarette tax in North Carolina by $1 per pack to help fill revenue gaps. Given tobacco's deep roots and strong traditions in this state, any one of these developments would have been considered heresy not that long ago. But that was then. ... [I]n the interest of the broader public's well-being, it is the right thing to do. Greensboro (N.C.) News-Record, April 1

Tax hike reason to kick habit

The federal cigarette tax jumps from 39 cents a pack to $1.01, an increase of 158 percent. ... In the weeks and months to come, the higher taxes will likely help spur more people to stop smoking, which will reduce health care costs for those who quit. Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette, March 31

Social taxes will inevitably just be taxes

If the theory works that [higher taxes] will discourage smoking ... then that means less revenue from tobacco taxes. That means, in turn, less money for those benefiting from tobacco taxes. Or does it? Does anyone believe that these special interests will simply go away? No, they will look for somewhere else to get the tax revenues from, perhaps a tax collected from general taxpayers. That is the problem with taxes that are used as both a revenue raiser and a social tool to encourage or discourage behavior. Eventually they just become a tax that we all end up paying. Yuma (Ariz.) Sun, March 31

Cigarette tax cuts two ways

If a tax increase will save lives in Northwest Missouri, where illnesses from smoking exceed the norm, then we see the wisdom in that. But we join with those concerned that a levy weighing heavily on low-income people is designed to fund insurance for others who are better off financially. Government must be held accountable for finding solutions to society's problems without shifting hardships from one group of citizens to another. St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press, March 30

Federal tax hike bad policy

Most people are "against" tobacco and the evils of smoking, right? Many politicians with no backbone jump on that bandwagon at every turn. Picking a certain group of consumers, who choose to purchase a legal product, for a tax hike is at its core unfair. And this idea of taxing a product that poses health risks is even scarier. What's next? Should the government slap an extra tax on food that has high levels of sugar and fat? The tax hike was obviously bad timing because it will hurt retailers as well as tobacco farmers. Franklin County tobacco farmers may be facing a 20% drop in revenue as a result of this tax. ... Allowing the government to keep stepping in and using economic muscle to wrestle those choices away is a slippery slope indeed. Franklin (N.C.) News-Post, April 1