another "new' crime spree caused by liberalism.
or at least by liberal policy..
the idea seems fine.. tax them more ,..after all cigarettes are bad for you and health care system eventually sees the effect and that increased costs..
but at a certain point tax revenue to pay for the programs becomes to repressive and either the product gets scarce,.. or more likely bootlegging starts..
yep when cigs are illegal only outlaws will have cigs.. :shock: :?
( I don't smoke).. quit when it hit a buck a pack...
or at least by liberal policy..
the idea seems fine.. tax them more ,..after all cigarettes are bad for you and health care system eventually sees the effect and that increased costs..
but at a certain point tax revenue to pay for the programs becomes to repressive and either the product gets scarce,.. or more likely bootlegging starts..
NYC probe finds massive number of illegal, untaxed cigs
Millions of dollars in cigarette-tax revenue for the city are going up in smoke.
The Sheriff's unit of the city Finance Department that conducted a sweep of 1,700 stores licensed to sell tobacco products found an astounding 42 percent either peddling untaxed cigarettes or using counterfeit stamps to duck the combined $5.85 city-state tax, The Post has learned.
The number of smokers in the city is falling each year — with Mayor Bloomberg crediting his administration’s anti-smoking policies for the drop.
But tax revenues from cigarettes are plummeting even more quickly.
The city took in $158.5 million from its share of the cigarette tax in 2003. Last year, collections were down to $69.8 million, a 56 percent drop.
In one case, a butt-legger led Finance Department agents to a storage locker. They installed a camera outside the facility, and it produced enough evidence for a search warrant.
Once inside, the agents seized 1,700 cartons of untaxed cigarettes and thousands of phony tax stamps.
In some cases, Frankel said the counterfeiting extends to the cigarettes themselves.
“They’re mostly cigarettes made in foreign countries,” he explained. “They’re brought in here and they’re mislabeled and they’re sold that way.”
A legitimate pack of Newports was selling yesterday for $10.75 at the Optimo shop on Park Row across from City Hall.
An illegal pack can go for as little as $5, according to grocery industry officials.
The city is known for having the toughest anti-smoking laws in the nation, with bans on puffing in restaurants and even parks.
The Bloomberg administration also has sued residents for buying untaxed cigs on the Internet and has cracked down on “roll your own” tobacco shops.
yep when cigs are illegal only outlaws will have cigs.. :shock: :?
( I don't smoke).. quit when it hit a buck a pack...