Source: New York Times
Date: 2010-06-19
Author: NICHOLAS CONFESSORE And DANNY HAKIM

Cigarette taxes in New York would jump by $1.60 a pack under a
tentative deal reached between Gov. David A. Paterson and
legislative leaders, which would give New York the nation\'s
highest state cigarette taxes.

The proposal, which officials said Mr. Paterson would include in
an emergency budget bill due for a vote on Monday, would also
raise wholesale taxes on other tobacco products like chewing
tobacco, bringing the tax on those products closer in line with
those of cigarettes.

In New York City, which levies steep taxes of its own on tobacco
products, a pack of cigarettes would come with a tax of $5.85,
making it the nation\'s first city to break $5, antismoking
advocates said. That would bring the overall cost of a pack of
premium cigarettes above $10 in many stores in the city. . . .

"I think it\'s wonderful," said Peter Slocum, an official with the
American Cancer Society. "Increased cigarette taxes have been one
of the major successful public health interventions in the last
decade in driving smoking rates to record lows in New York City
and a lot of other parts of the country, too."

A cigarette tax increase has been opposed by tobacco retailers,
however, who say it merely drives consumers to black market
cigarettes. "That large of an increase will further devastate
legitimate retail sales of cigarettes and only serve to create
more widespread black market cigarette sales and crime in New
York," said Thomas Briant, executive director of the National
Association of Tobacco Outlets. . .

Mr. Megna said the state, in an effort to avoid a confrontation,
would tax wholesalers who sold cigarettes to Native American
tribes. Tribes would be allotted a certain amount tax-free for
their residents.