Jump to full article: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 2008-05-02
Intro: We support increasing Mississippi's cigarette tax as a matter of principle for better public and personal health. The current 18 cents per pack tax is among the nation's lowest, yet our state spends $260 million treating smoking-induced sickness among Medicaid patients.
There's a disconnect in those figures and in the governor's and Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant's unflinching opposition to increasing the tax by $1 per pack.
There's nothing good about smoking. . . .
The cigarette tax alone won't pay the full tab for the rest of the budget year and expected increases in 2009, but morally and as public policy should be part of the calculus.
Jump to full article » |