The Cigarette Tax Article, more

A few days ago I promised to post the cigarette tax article on the blog once I got it back from my professor. Well, I got it back in class today, and the news was good-- I got an A on it, keeping my string of A's in this class intact.

In other good news, my professor told me today that he thinks I would be able to sell the Coville article to a publication of some kind "in a second," since Coville is a pretty big deal in the world of children's literature (he also said he was impressed I landed this interview). Once I have actually written the story (it's due Wednesday the 6th, but I'm going to finish it early if I can, make that last week of classes as easy as possible) I might shop it around and see if anyone is interested. After all, publishing is the name of the game.

Had some free time today after class, so I got started on the magazine layout project for my graphics class. It's definitely going to be time-consuming, but I don't think it will be as bad as I originally feared, and I've already got a good head start on it.

I realized that I have not yet answered an unanswerable question this week, so I'll try to get on that at some point. Tonight I'm going to take it easy. I mean, I have enough to do that I'm probably going to be working on something productive all night, but since I don't have any looming deadlines and I'm not under much pressure at the moment I'll just work at a leisurely pace, maybe watch a movie at the same time. Anyway, without further ado, here comes the cigarette tax article. It has no title or headline, because it turns out that newspaper writers do not write their own headlines. I believe that's part of the copy editor's job. So yeah, I guess you can feel free to make up your own headline if it makes you feel better:

June 3 was not a good day for Kathie Hartnagle, 58, who has owned and operated Mallard Tobacconist in Armory Square since 1991.

“I sold one pack of cigarettes all day,” she said.

That was the day New York’s new cigarette tax went into effect, raising the cost of a pack of cigarettes by $1.25. The state taxes on cigarettes in New York now total $2.75, the highest in the nation. The tax increase is expected to generate $265 million in revenue for the state this year. The tax is also meant to deter people from smoking, and to encourage current smokers to quit.

The tax revenue will be used to battle health care costs, which are skyrocketing as a result of tobacco-related illnesses. According to a report from the New York State Tobacco Control Program, smoking kills 25,500 New Yorkers each year and accounts for $8 billion in medical expenses.

The state government has attempted to deter smoking with legislation in the past. In 2003, the Clean Indoor Air Act banned smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places. In 2002, cigarette taxes went up from $1.11 per pack to $1.50, and taxes on other tobacco products increased to 37% of the wholesale price. That was one of the worst hits for Hartnagle. Cigars and pipe tobacco account for the largest portion of her sales.

“Fortunately, I can pay all my bills. It’s a struggle, but I do it,” she said.

The tax increase presents new challenges for her, and many New Yorkers have different feelings on the issue.

Seve Robinson, 20, is a nonsmoker who works at Journeys and JB Robinson in Shoppingtown Mall. He supports the idea of using the tax as a deterrent.

“If it gets people to quit, I think it’s A-OK,” he said.

Robinson has “a lot of relatives” who smoke, including two aunts.

“They have babies in the house,” he said. “So hopefully the higher taxes will give them a reason to quit.”

Lindsay Nichols, a retail sales associate for Time Warner in Syracuse, started smoking at 16. Now 22, she smokes one or two packs a day.

Nichols called the tax “horrible” because of the added cost to smokers, but admitted that it might help people quit.

Nichols can already see the effects of smoking on her health. She now breathes heavily while working out and feels different when she gets up in the morning. Despite that, she has no plans to quit. To save money, she now buys her cigarettes at the Onondaga Nation Smoke Shop in Nedrow. Smoke shops on Native American reservations do not charge state taxes.

“Going and buying a pack a day at the store would cost a fortune,” Nichols said.

Smokers who take their business to the reservations are a major concern for legislators. The issue is particularly significant in Central New York because of the nearby Onondaga and Oneida reservations.

Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson, opposed the new tax because he feared “it would send people to the Indian operations and the Internet.”

Magee said that, as the law is written, the reservations can only sell tax-free cigarettes to Native Americans; everyone else is supposed to pay the taxes. This law has never been enforced, however.

Magee is critical of Governor Paterson and his predecessors, Governors Pataki and Spitzer, for their failure to enforce the law. He speculated that the government may fear resistance or even violence from Native Americans if the state attempted to enforce the law. Representatives from the Onondaga Nation Smoke Shop did not comment on this story, and failed to return several messages.

Magee believes many smokers will start buying their cigarettes online or at the reservations, or find other ways to avoid the tax. He thinks the new tax will generate much less revenue than the state expects. He also worries about the effects it will have on local businesses and the economy.

“It definitely would take more customers away from the taxpaying businesses,” he said.

Assemblywoman Joan Christensen, D-Syracuse, also has concerns about the tax, although she supports it.

“I have mixed feelings about a lot of taxes,” Christensen said, and later added, “I vote no on every single tax I can.”

Still, she believes the higher cigarette tax will change things for the better, if it helps to fund health care and deters people from smoking.

“Change is difficult, even good change,” she said.

Like Magee, Christensen worries about local businesses who may be negatively affected by the tax. “My heart goes out to those who rely on only one source of income,” she said.

Her advice to business owners is simple: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify.”

Smoking is a serious problem in New York, but it is even worse in some other states. According to health reports, the prevalence of smoking in New York is below the national average, and state smoking rates reached their lowest levels ever in 2006, having dropped about 24% since 1989. Yet the legislature still found it necessary to raise New York’s cigarette taxes to the highest in the country.

Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-North Syracuse, says federal health care policy is to blame.

“As a nation, the biggest failure we have is a failure to address health care,” he said. “We’ve needed leadership at the national level, and we just haven’t gotten any.”

Stirpe expressed hope that the new administration, regardless of who wins the White House, will take a more “progressive” stance on health care. In the meantime, he strongly supports the cigarette tax and believes it is a good way to fund health care costs.

He called the tax “a great deterrent” and “a win-win,” saying it would raise money for the state and inspire people to quit smoking.

“The bottom line is it’s great for health policy,” he said.

Despite his passionate feelings about “the devastating effects of smoking cigarettes,” Stirpe said he would not be in favor of a movement to outlaw tobacco altogether.

“We normally support anything that provides choice,” he said, and other legislators echoed his sentiments.

“We have a right to our bad habits,” Assemblywoman Christensen said.

“It’s their choice,” said Assemblyman Magee.

Some smokers, like Kathie Hartnagle, look back on the past two decades of tax hikes and smoking bans, and find such statements difficult to believe.

“We’re getting to be too much of a Big Brother country,” Hartnagle said. “We can’t do anything. It’s ridiculous.”