Smoke this.

On June 18 our state government plans to enforce Public Health Law §1399-ll which puts a stop to all on-line and mail order cigarette shipments into New York. This means that come Wednesday every other state in the union will still be able to purchase cigarettes online or by mail-- except us. This law is designed to force New Yorkers to pay the exorbitant state taxes that are the brainchild of our governor, AND the additional New York City tax on cigarettes that is part of --quite obviously-- our mayor's personal vendetta against smokers on the whole.

Without going into a boring diatribe about our current tax system and our current administration's tax agenda, let me simply be clear that I am not anti-taxation. I am in no way opposed to the taxing of cigarettes or any other good or service that I purchase. My argument is not about the existence of a cigarette tax, but the way cigarettes have been singled out as a quickie means of generating extra revenue --from citizens least able to afford it-- each time the state legislature has a bill to pay.

Head over to the CDC and do a little research. You will find data you may be familiar with; the majority of smokers in America are below or hovering around the poverty line, are mostly non-white, and have only a high-school or GED equivalent level of education. Also (according to statistics) people trying to quit have less success if they are poor, of color, and undereducated. Given these facts, how can our state even pretend that the body of laws concerning tobacco sale and use are anything other than blatantly biased against the poor. Punishing an already disenfranchised group for using a mass-produced, mass marketed, legal consumable --whose proceeds bankroll the punisher's political campaigns-- is beyond disgusting. As much as smoking is detested by many, a thoughtful person might wonder where the slippery slope of class-biased legislation may lead. Maybe some like to watch our government continue to enact legislation that clearly targets people of color and the poor, but I can't stomach it.

If you agree please make the following (rich,white, non-smoking) men aware of your opinion:

George Pataki
Phone (518) 474-8390
Fax (518) 474-3767
Or email him here.

Arthur J. Roth, commissioner of taxation and finance
General Tax Information (800) 225.5829
Cigarette Tax Information Center (800) 972.1233

Oh, and don't worry, you can still have your new golf clubs shipped from Pebble Beach without paying NYS and an additional NYC sales tax. They haven't changed the legislation on that, thank God

Posted by Antigeist at June 16, 2003 12:40 PM