Published on April 6, 2009
Smokers are coughing up a few more pennies now after a cigarette tax hike. The new legislation hurts also the local convenience stores and gas stations sales from Ohio.
The cigarette tax snap is not a hit with smokers. Smokers from Ohio are not so happy because of the cigarette tax, but they leave and think that this is a Government’ joke, and they can't believe that it's so high.
The tax hike is good news for former smokers and non-smokers. For example, Jerome Jackson, a former smoker, said: "Well, I quit smoking but my wife continued and as a result of the new tax laws she decided it's time for her to quit." Jackson added that the new cigarette tax did something he was not able to do, to convince his wife to quit. He said that she's developed a cough that he thinks is associated with smoking.
The decline is cigarette sales have led to the decline in the sales of other convenient store items as well. Clerks say customers who normally stop in for a pack of cigarettes would also purchase at least a drink as well. Now, with the price of a smoke increasing, customers will order more soda than cigarettes.
The theory that the high cost of cigarettes will convince more smokers to quit is a true one. For example Delbert Wilson, who plans to quit smoking, said: "Most people smoke not because they want to but because they have to and because they have cigarettes. It's just a habit, that's what it is."
An example of some of the price increases: a pack of Camel cigarettes has gone up from $4.26 to $4.72 which Marlboro is up 70 cents to $5.11. The Ohio portion of the tax on cigarettes is $1.25, which ranks it 21st out of all states.
