Cigarette Tax Ignites Controversy

Cigarette Tax Ignites Controversy
Kerry Green of Bayside has been smoking for a total of nine years, and has no plans to kick the habit, no matter how much Mayor Bloomberg spikes the Citys cigarette tax. The tall, healthy-looking off-duty police officer took no stock in the Mayors claims that the hefty new City cigarette tax could save his life.
"You quit when youre ready," he said as he flicked his cigarette into an ashtray at a wood-paneled local bar. "I think [the tax] is more likely to send people to other avenues. Its like Prohibition, theyre sending money right into the coffers of organized crime." Green has smoked for a total of nine years and is now up to about a pack and a half a day. Though he quit for seven years, he couldnt help but start again, "because Im a moron I didnt realize how addictive it was." Leaning with one arm against the bar, Green said, "Id quit immediately if I could," but with a sly look at the friend next to him added, "I just dont feel like it."
Green is typical of Queens smokers: he knows hes hurting himself, but he doesnt think much of the Mayors assertion that putting a price of more than $6.50 on a pack of cigarettes will help him stop.
On June 30, Bloomberg signed a bill that increased the Citys levy on each pack from 8 cents to $1.50. The state tax on cigarettes went from $1.11 to $1.50 in April, making the total tax on the product $3, the highest in the nation. A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg said the hike could save some 50,000 lives across the borough by helping people quit smoking, as well as bringing in $111 million in fiscal 2003 for the financially beleaguered City.
Statistics from health groups corroborate Bloombergs predictions. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that for every 10% rise in the price of cigarettes, there is a 4% decline in smoking per capita, according to Matt Sones, a CDC spokesman. "Half of the decrease comes from people quitting, and half from people cutting back," said Sones.
According to the American Lung Assoc. of the City of New York, about 14,000 City residents die each year from smoking-related illnesses such as lung cancer and emphysema. Although the Lung Assoc. does not have statistics for overall smoking deaths in Queens, they have found that roughly 1,100 borough residents succumb to lung cancer annually and about 90% of those deaths are the result of smoking, according to Louise Leavitt, an organization spokeswoman.
Still, most of the smokers congregating outside the Citicorp Tower in Long Island City on a mid-day break denounced the price hike as they sucked back on their cigarettes.
William Medina of Elmhurst was angry about the tax. "Its not fair," he said bitterly. "Cutting back should be your own choice. People who smoke will smoke no matter what. This is a free country."
"Its ridiculous," agreed Louis Velez. "People will just cut down on something else."
Some smokers channeled their outrage into finding ways of procuring cheaper smokes.
But Jason Ruiz had a different view. As he puffed away with the others, he said, "I think what hes doing is the right idea. It prevents people from smoking too much. I might cut down."
Some smokers were already planning ways of avoiding the hike without quitting. "Who is going to buy a $7 pack?" demanded Golam Anam, as he lit up on 36 Ave. in Astoria. "Two months ago I started buying online. I told all my friends." Anam, a cab driver, said that he and other drivers often bought multiple cartons of cigarettes in New Jerseywhere cigarette prices are much lowerwhen they took customers there.
What About Kids?
Bloomberg and health groups have theorized that the price hike will deter teenagers from starting to smoke. Because teens have less disposable income than adults, Leavitt of the Lung Assoc. said, they are more likely to feel the pinch. Since, according to Leavitt, 85% of those who smoke start before the age of 18, the tax could prevent thousands from becoming addicted.
Indeed, the hike may already be pricing cigarettes out of some teenagers range. Eighteen-year-old Denise Manekas of Ozone Park said that one evening shortly after the tax was implemented some friends she was with tried to buy cigarettes at a Fresh Meadows newsstand, but the Parliaments they wanted cost $9. "Instead of buying one pack each like they planned, they shared a $5 pack of Basics [a discount brand]," she said.
Shirley Chen, 17, of Bayside said she had been smoking for the past four years, but the higher prices might help break the habit. "Its too expensive," she said. "Im thinking of cutting downIm going to quit."
Richard Lee, 17, of Bayside, a four-and-a-half-year smoking veteran, said the tax might help him smoke less. "I dont like [the tax], but part of me thinks its right and will help a lot of people quit. Im going to cut down." Asked if he regretted picking up the habit, he replied, "Yes, I regret wasting my money, hurting my body and disappointing my parents."
Some other young smokers said they would probably continue despite the expense. Sixteen-year-old Ivona Vrdoljak of College Point, who has been smoking since she was 12, said she probably wouldnt stop. "Im still buying them," she said, adding that she regretted ever starting.
Bodega Owners Burned
Queens bodegas may become an unexpected casualty of the tax.
"It definitely will hurt business," said L.B. Yonzone, a worker at the magazine stand inside the 36 Ave. N train station in Astoria. "We used to sell 15 to 16 packs a day, but now its only three or four." Yonzone said that many of the customers who stopped to buy cigarettes also purchased candy and magazines, so the tax was impacting overall profits.
Al Malek, a co-owner of Quick Shop Convenience Store in Astoria told a similar story. Two days after the tax was implemented, he said his cigarette sales, which constitute about 65% of his business, are down by 75%. "People come in here, they ask the price [of cigarettes] and they go out of the place," he said. Malek explained that it wasnt just that the number of packs he sold was down, but the profit he made from each had also dropped. Since even in dealing with wholesalers he must absorb the cost of the increased tax, he can now only afford three cartons for the $60 he used to pay for four. However, he still only makes $7 on each. "I know there is a budget gap, but you cant fix it by crushing people," he said. "Some people may quit, but people might also rob and steal. Cigarettes are becoming like gold." Still, Malek said the tax might save people, especially children.
One of his customers concurred. Carl Pencoast, who was there to buy cigarettes, said the tax would "most definitely" help him stop smoking. His five-year-old son Chad, when asked if he wanted his dad to quit or keep smoking, craned his neck to look up at his father and said, "Quit."
Jeeyoung Min and Eueyoung Min contributed to this story.