Published on May 4, 2009
The cigarettes prices are have been increased several times only during this year and they would be increased even more in the state of Hawaii.
Smokers had to fork out $7.80 for a pack of Marlboros and $7.40 for Camels when they came to buy cigarettes last week. According to tobacco shops’ staff, customers were frustrated by the prices with many of them admitting that they would not smoke anymore.
However, the Hawaii government decided to make life even worse for Hawaiian smokers by introducing the bill that would increase the price of each cigarette pack by additional 40 cents above the federal tax increase that came into force on Wednesday. The corresponding bill has already reached the Legislature last week.
This incentive was praised by local anti-smoking organizations, which declared that with the larger taxes more people would give up smoking and less people and especially minors would start smoking or at least try cigarettes.
Several local smokers admitted that they were happy hearing the news that State Budget Committee decided to increase the cigarette tax by 40 cents instead of proposed $2 per pack, however, if their opinion counted they would have asked not to raise the state tax on cigarettes at all since the recent price jump has become an unbearable burden for them.
Meanwhile pro-smoking groups Forest and Smokers Alliance have united their efforts to hold a protest march outside the Ways and Means Committee Building at the time when the Committee members were debating over the proposed bill regarding the cigarette tax increase. Activists wore tees with the words "extorted," "screwed" and others written on them.
Caroline Penn, one of the Forest members said that Hawaii could not be named paradise any more since it has urged to be a nightmare place for smokers to live. She also added that authorities have been trying to exorcise and isolate only smokers since there have been no other people who pay so much for their habits.
With the federal tax increase of $1.01 entered into effect, the actual cigarette tax of $2 a pack in Hawaii puts the state in the same row with New York, New Jersey and Washington where the taxes are even higher. There are also eight states that have the same $2 state cigarette tax.
The revenue collected in case the tax increase is approved would go to different health related programs: a significant part would be used to fund trauma center, and the remaining money would go to cancer center, smoking cessation program and other funds.
Besides tax increase bill, there were two other tobacco-control regulations that were as well approved on Thursday. One bill is related to tobacco containing products except cigarette that would be taxed by 105 percent more within 3 years. Another bill concerns smoking in prisons that would be banned if the bill would be approved.
There were also other smoking related proposals on Thursday that failed to pass the corresponding committees. One of them intended to ban slim cigarettes and the other called to impose a smoking ban on Waikiki Beach.
Hawaii government imposed public smoking ban back in 2006. The ban includes all restaurants, offices, hotels and bars.
Three bills that were approved last week have been referred to conference committees on Friday.
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle declared that she has been considering to approve the state cigarette tax increase bill.
