I live in Minnesota and I am a non-smoker. Our legislature recently passed a bill that will include a 75 cent "fee" added on to every pack of cigarettes sold. It was Tim Pawlenty's idea and it helped them to finally get our state running again. It was shut down for a week or two.
Anyway, it certainly seemed like an easy political choice for everyone. Have a large cigarette fee. Raise funds for the state. If people choose not to smoke due to the high tax fee, great! They increase their chances of living longer. It seemed like a very much of a win-win situation for all.
But then other things start to be thought about. A cigarette fee is a regressive tax on the poor. They have less of their disposable income to spend on cigarettes than the wealthy. Besides, wealthy people have a better chance to become non-smokers with all the programs out there to join to stop smoking. But those programs cost money that the poor doesn't have.
Is this just punishing people for what society has deemed bad habits? Is a cigarette tax a way of shoving a moral value down on the people who smoke just because the majority can?
I am glad that anti-smoking ordinances are now sweeping the country. I like going out to a restaurant or a bar and having it smoke free. But I am not all that confident about this cigarette fee of Pawlenty's.
It seems to be on a very slippery slope and could open doors to taxing other sins that society decides is wrong at the moment.
I would be interested in your thoughts.