Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Increasing tobacco taxes 

Scratch another item off the list of reasons South Carolina lawmakers give for not discouraging teen smoking by raising our rock-bottom cigarette tax rate.

The South Carolina Cancer Society, not convinced by arguments that a higher cigarette tax would drive smokers over the border to purchase cheaper smokes in North Carolina or Georgia, decided to take a look at what has happened since Georgia increased its tax from 12 cents to 37 cents a pack last summer.

What it found was that cigarette tax collections in Georgia more than doubled. That means that while cigarette sales dropped (had they remained constant, tax collections would have tripled), the state government hasn't lost any money by raising the tax rate, as some contend would happen in South Carolina. ...

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