Cigarettes Tax

Essay # 100365

Law
Medical and Health > Drugs
Medical and Health > Public Health Issues

Cigarettes Tax

This paper analyzes Proposition 86 of the State of California to add $2.60 in taxes to every pack of cigarettes, which could raise the price of the average pack to $7.

830 words () | 2 sources | APA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper states that the anti smoking Proposition 86 is one of the most hotly contested propositions in California's legislative history. The author points out that the proponents argue that it will reduce smoking, improve health care services, and provide valuable tax revenues for the state. The paper reports that the opponents stress that the tax is a back door funding of the health care industry, is an irresponsible use of taxpayer money and financial punishment for millions of adults in the state who decide of their own volition to smoke, an activity that is still legal in the United States.

From the Paper:

"California is currently home to about 9% of the total population of smokers in the United States. This is a significant portion of the total population of cigarette smokers who will all be affected drastically by the tax increase on packs of cigarettes via Proposition 86. The immediate effect of the tax will be to decrease sales of packs of cigarettes in the state. This is basic economics. If the price of a pack of cigarettes increases so dramatically, by more than 50% in this case, it will inevitably lead to decreased sales as more individuals have difficulty absorbing the increased overall cost of smoking (never mind the long-term health costs)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Byrnes, N. (2006, September 11). Big Tobacco's showdown in the West. Business Week, p. 38.
Weeks, K. (2006, August 21). Smokers could cough up billion for health care if measure passes. San Diego Business Journal, 27(34), pp. 3-4.