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February 17, 2005
Raise the cigarette tax. It's easy.
On one of the walls of my home, one block east of the North Carolina governor’s mansion in Raleigh, is a lacquered golden tobacco leaf. It was a gift from friends.
It’s meant to remind our family of our state’s tobacco heritage. Tobacco has build nearly everything in the eastern part of the state — universities, churches, parks. It has sent thousands of North Carolina farm boys and farmer’s daughters to college.
A few facts about tobacco and our stte government right now:
Treatment of smoking-related diseases in North Carolina cost well over a billion dollars a year. The state’s tobacco tax is 5 cents a pack. Only Kentucky, at 3 cents a pack, is lower.
This year, North Carolina faces a budget deficit of at least $1.3 billion.
Raising the tobacco tax to 75 cents a pack would raise about $350 million.
Research has shown over and over that raising the tobacco tax north of 50 cents a pack will dramatically lower the number of teens who start smoking.
So the question is, “Why wouldn’t the state legislature be sprinting to enact this tax. Why shouldn’t smokers pay the price?
Yes, North Carolina has cigarette manufacturers and, yes, there are still tobacco farmers. But the time for their ride is over. The meth labs that all the law enforcement agencies are cracking down on don’t cause nearly as much harm as cigarettes.
Raising the tax makes sense in every respect. As a sound, responsible public policy, it’s a no-brainer.
Posted Feb 17 2005 @ 10:56 PM
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