In New York State, a new tax on cigarette sales took affect this month. This will raise the current tax of $1.50 per pack up to $2.25 per pack. Before the new tax New Yorkers are paying an average of $5.82 across the state and within New York City, with its additional city taxes, are averaging $8 per pack. This means in some parts of the state, specifically the NYC area, smokers will need to pay near $10 per pack or more. With the new tax New York expects to bring in $265 million per year, and that cigarette taxes will raise a total of $1.3 billion for the state budget in the next fiscal year.
Dr. Richard Daines, the New York health commissioner, is a large supporter of the new tax saying "This is a public health victory. We know one of the really effective tools to get people off of their nicotine addiction is to the raise the price." Dr. Daines is also looking at a forecast of an estimated 140,000 New Yorkers to stop smoking due to the price increase with the new tax. Along with the estimated smokers that stop, Dr. Daines also looks to the youth of the state saying, "Youth are particularly sensitive to the price of cigarettes, so this price increase is expected to prevent 243,000 youth from smoking," This tax is part of an $83 million dollar anti-smoking effort that will also include advertisements and public service announcements.
Another view of the tax is from some of the smokers of the state, one in particular is Audrey Silk, who heads NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment. Silk thinks it’s ridiculous to expect smokers across the state to just quit because the price is climbing. Since the last New York City cigarette tax increase, Silk switched from buying cigarettes in packs or cartons to rolling her own cigarettes and thinks other smokers w ...