Government should scrap cigarette tax proposal, commenters say

Alabama -- Readers are divided on State Rep. Patricia Todd's proposal to raise the state tax on cigarettes by $1 in hopes of raising extra money for Medicaid and the Children First Trust Fund as well as influencing smokers to quit the habit.

Alabama's state tax on cigarettes now is 42.5 cents per pack, which on July 1 was the fifth-lowest among the 50 states, the report says.

The median state tax on July 1 was $1.29 per pack. Todd's proposed tax increase would push the state cigarette tax in Alabama to $1.425 per pack, which on July 1 would have been the 23rd-highest state cigarette tax.

Some readers are encouraged by Todd's proposal so long as it weens young people away from smoking, but others feel that the state government should focus on protecting individual liberties instead of of controlling them.

I'll just buy my cigarettes out of state when I buy my lottery tickets. - deegee80

I DO NOT SMOKE AND I HATE SMOKE BUT....I want the government to stay out of our lives. All these dems want to is control people by tax. - AUpowerof Dixieland

I got an idea we can tax every breath that we take and the government can charge us .10 cents a breath and if we inhale deeply then can add a usage tax of an extra .10 then they can start charging us a tax on pollution for all of the carbon dioxide that we expel with every breath. - CRASH67

Just another case of a Democrat wanting to rob Peter to pay Paul, only in this case they're trying to justify it by taxing smokers, which make up quite a bit of their own constituency more than likely. This should be shot down immediately. If they start jacking up taxes on cigarettes because they are unhealthy, what's going to stop them from doing the same with fast food, television, groceries deemed unhealthy, and so on? While I understand that secondhand smoke may be a health risk and certainly offensive to some, it is their right do so and should not be unfairly taxed because they enjoy a certain item or activity. - Bama Fanatic

Smokers are a tax on society at large....if you can't afford it, don't do it. I always get a kick out of people who claim they can't buy their kids clothes, school lunches, or health insurance...meanwhile, they smoke like chimneys. If this tax gets them to finally pay their fair share, I say great (most states have done it, just like most states have a lottery....but nooooo, not in Alabama.....smoking is good, lotteries are bad). - Hunter