Stunning compilation of the tax burden on tobacco

In his closing essay to the Summer 2009 issue of Cigar Magazine, Lew Rothman essentially writes a farewell to the cigar industry, which he calls “in freefall.”

Between smoking bans, taxes and public disdain, smokers are in their most difficult era in centuries. Rothman notes the almost incomprehensible tax burden on smokers, with cigarette smokers faring the worst. While we’re not much interested in cigarettes here, Rothman’s calculations are too startling not to consider carefully:

“Under the guise of protecting the public and our youth from the dangers of the filthy tobacco weed, and through the continuous dissemination of trumped-up numbers pertaining to the amount of deaths and health care costs attributable to tobacco, the government has conveniently absconded with 90 percent of the revenue generated by the industry. That’s right – 90 percent of the money paid by the public on all tobacco products goes right into the coffers of federal, state and local government.

“Look, I don’t want to bore you with a million numbers, so let’s just look at the cost of one pack of cigarettes on Wall Street, since every news article seems to view that as the center of the universe during this economic downturn. Even of a company like RJ Reynolds or Philip Morris gave its cigarettes away free, and every tobacco distributor passed on the cigarettes to retail shops free, and every retail shop gave the cigarettes away free, the federal and state tobacco taxes alone, plus the 8.375 percent New York sales tax, would result in a price of $5.70 per pack!”

That is monstrous, and a lesson to those who value freedom. United States Chief Justice John Marshall, writing the majority opinion in the landmark McCullouch vs. Maryland decision way back in 1819, noted that “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.” That’s exactly what the anti-smoking lobby, aided by our government, is trying to do, as Rothman concludes:

I was always taught that government here in the United States was instituted to protect our individual rights. Today, it seems that concept has been changed to one where government gets to decide what our individual rights are. I fear for the future of our great nation. Things have gotten out of control.”