|
|
from www.4-smokes.net
Buy Marlboro cigarettes for $ 13.39
Sarah LaLone stopped by Smokey Joe's II on Wednesday for the second time this week.
She stocked up on Silver Light 100s, writing a $60.92 check for two cartons of the cigarettes and a pack of cigars.
That's because today the cigarettes alone would cost the Lansing woman $72.06.
Business more than doubled Wednesday at Smokey Joe's II on South Cedar Street, employee Tom Majeske said. More customers came in and many were buying cartons instead of packs, Majeske said.
Michigan's cigarette tax jumps 75 cents today, from $1.25 to $2 a pack, and many of Michigan's 2.5 million smokers scrambled to stock up before the increase.
More than 60,000 smokers are expected to quit rather than pay the extra money, according to the American Cancer Society and the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The increase makes Michigan's cigarette tax the second-highest state levy - behind New Jersey's, which is $2.05. It will cost a pack-a-day smoker an extra $273.75 a year.
Goran Erdelean, owner of Smoke House II on South Cedar Street and Tobacco King on North Clippert Street, said he anticipated a rush before today's increase, but didn't stock up for it.
Smokey Joe's II didn't supplement much either, manager Lisa Kalchik said.
That's because retailers have to pay the additional tax on all inventory left at midnight Wednesday.
Many of her customers can't afford to stock up, Kalchik said. Previous tax increases have hurt the store's business, and she expects this one will, too.
But "what it really hurt was the lower-income customers," she said.
Low-income people, children and minorities are two to three times more likely than other smokers to quit due to price increases, according to the American Cancer Society.
Some of Kalchik's customers have said they'll try to quit, but most told her they plan to buy cigarettes in Indiana or online to avoid Michigan's tax.
"That's a killer," she said. "These are customers we've had for years."
But those buying online or in bulk out of state could face fines and even prison sentences. A Michigan resident buying tax-free cigarettes online could wind up paying more than twice the price in taxes and penalties.
LaLone is sticking with Smokey Joe's II just because she doesn't feel like driving to Indiana.
"I probably won't quit," she said. "I smoked too long."
Quitting tips
Those who can't afford the tax increase, the gas to Indiana or the fines for buying untaxed cigarettes have little choice but to quit smoking.
Different approaches work for different people, but nicotine patches paired with counseling seem to be the most successful, said Amy Moore, who coordinates tobacco prevention and cessation programs for the Ingham County Health Department.
"Smokers hate smoking," she said. "They want to quit, but it's extremely difficult. This is a very strong addiction."
After the 50 cent increase in August 2002, Moore said, the Health Department received about 50 calls a day for almost two weeks from people looking for information on quitting. So far, the department hasn't seen that kind of jump, but today's tax increase probably will prompt a similar response, she said.
A House amendment to the tax increase calls for $1.5 million of proceeds to go toward including a sample of a nicotine patch or gum in every Smoker's Quit Kit, available for free from the state Department of Community Health.
The department hasn't yet seen an increase in requests for the kits, spokesman T.J. Bucholz said.
In the habit
Theron Allen has smoked for 50 years and tried to quit four times. The 65-year-old Lansing man has tried the patch, the gum - even a hypnotist.
"After two days I was smoking more than I did before," Allen said with a throaty laugh.
The fourth time, he tried to go cold turkey.
"I lasted - no, my wife lasted - four weeks. I got so mean and ornery, she went out and bought me a pack of cigarettes," Allen said as he tapped the ash off the end of a Basic Light 100.
In the old days, he'd smoke Luckys or Camels, but he switched "to try to save a buck."
"It's gonna get so high that the person with a fixed income isn't gonna be able to afford it," Allen said. "So I guess I'm just gonna have to die of obesity."