Maine Health Groups Request $1 Per Pack Tax On Cigarettes
Another proposed tax for cigarette smoker’s in Maine. I always find it interesting that it never fails to mention Maine as having a lower tax on cigarettes than other states in New England, but it never seems to mention that Maine has also has a lower income level than other New England States.
The following was taken from an article in the Bangor Daily News.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Health groups called on state lawmakers and Gov. John Baldacci on Monday to increase Maine’s cigarette tax by $1 a pack as a way to narrow the budget gap while discouraging smoking, especially among young people.
There is a poll in the article so I strongly recommend voting. I do understand that it is mentioned as a way to stop young people, before they start, but I have seen many statistics where theft of tobacco products rises with the tax increases. I do find that statistic interesting.
I don’t know when the increases in taxes on residents of Maine will begin to taper off, but I don’t want any more taxes on anyone. Taxes were designed to help with problems they cause, not to fatten the general fund.
The lack of accountability of using money from the general fund has been a problem for Mainer’s for years. The new LD 1495 bill will hit all Mainer’s. With that bill, I believe all other taxes are best left alone.
I see new taxes and increases in taxes, but I don’t see much in the news about just exactly where this tax money is going. The increase in “fees” for 2009 were for many things 40% and I know that some at least increased again for 2010.
These fees affect the people relative to their income. We hear about helping the lower income and poor, but all we see are taxes that cause greater and greater decreases in our disposable income.
Those making 6 figure incomes, will just carry on as usual and complain about the minute percentage it is costing them. Those in other brackets will be giving up their way of life.
Have our politicians lost touch with reality, or do they just not care about the working people in Maine?
Since 1981 there have been 148 reported studies on ETS, involving spouses, children and workplace exposure. 124 of these studies showed no significant causal relationship between second hand smoke and lung cancer. Of the 24 which showed some risk, only two had a Relative Risk Factor over 3.0 and none higher. What does this mean. To put it in perspective, Robert Temple, director of drug evaluation at the Food and Drug Administration said “My basic rule is if the relative risk isn’t at least 3 or 4, forget it.” The National Cancer Institute states “Relative risks of less than 2 are considered small and are usually difficult to interpret. Such increases may be due to mere chance, statistical bias, or the effect of confounding factors that are sometimes not evident.” Dr. Kabat, IAQC epidemiologist states “An association is generally considered weak if the relative risk is under 3.0 and particularly when it is under 2.0, as is the case in the relationship of ETS and lung cancer. Therefore, you can see any concern of second hand smoke causing lung cancer is highly questionable.” Note that the Relative Risk (RR) of lung cancer for persons drinking whole milk is 2.14 and all cancers from chlorinated water ranked at 1.25. These are higher risks than the average ETS risk. If we believe second hand smoke to be a danger for lung cancer then we should also never drink milk or chlorinated water.
I also agree with the smoking bans, to an extent. The caveat is always “my rights end where yours begin” which is essentially saying that if I am bothered by someone smoking, they shouldn’t be smoking. This makes sense in places like restaurants (remember the smoking and nonsmoking sections that were only separated by a 4-foot tall barrier?) but not so much in the open air. Heck – sometimes when I’m driving I can smell someone smoking AHEAD of me on the highway driving @ 70 MPH! That said, I fully support people’s right to smoke. I don’t smoke, but my father did and it killed him. I support the right to smoke just as I support my right to eat a cheeseburger or go skydiving. Everyone that thinks it’s cool and fun to jump on the antismoking bandwagon, just wait until your wonderful government deems your activities as unhealthy and starts taxing/banning them.