The Massachusetts Legislature seems to think cigarette smokers are a bottomless piggy bank. But there is a bottom, and with their latest raid on smokers, lawmakers could be reaching it.
The House and Senate have both passed bills that would hike the cigarette tax by $1 per pack, putting it at $2.51, which is expected to bring in another $175 million.
Perhaps it will. The Senate bill would also eliminate state control of tobacco prices, which legislators believe would cushion the impact of the added tax. State Sen. Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, went so far as to say it would "negate" any price increase, and therefore protect merchants in communities that border New Hampshire.
That is a dubious claim — does Baddour know that cigarette manufacturers and merchants are prepared to cut their prices by $1 per pack to offset the tax?
And New Hampshire is not about to dilute its existing advantage anyway. The New Hampshire Legislature, at the urging of Gov. John Lynch, is considering raising its cigarette tax as well, but has put it on hold to see if the Massachusetts tax hike drives more smokers north.
But this is not just about the border towns. What is also likely is that the increase will put taxes at the point where a black market in cigarettes will become irresistibly attractive.
Massachusetts taxes will then be 40 to 50 percent of the retail price of a pack of cigarettes, second only to New York, where the state is about to raise its tax to $2.75 per pack. In New York City, which levies its own $1.50 tax on every pack, smokers there will be paying in the $9 range for a pack of legal cigarettes.
But "legal" is the key word. In the 1960s, the last time New York's cigarette taxes were at such a confiscatory level, the black market exploded — an estimated 25 percent of all the cigarettes consumed in New York were bootlegged, an operation that fueled the expansion of organized crime.
Do Massachusetts leaders want to risk that?
The heavy taxing of smokers is one of the conundrums of our society. Should people smoke? No, it's clear it is a major health risk. Is it legal to smoke? Of course. Do most smokers want to quit? Surveys say that yes, they do, but they are under the spell of a powerful addiction, making it difficult for them to stop. Talk to any smoker who has tried, and they will readily cite how hard it is to stop.
Smokers are an easy target for taxation. They are also a particularly vulnerable target. Sounds like they will continue to pay a heavy price, both in treasure and health, for an addiction that many of them wish they could kick.
