50 / 60
[ 50 ]
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
[ 01
/
02
|
17 ]
NEWS
&
TRENDS
Colorado residents rejected a ballot initiative
aimed at increasing cigarette taxes in the state,
with approximately 53 percent of voters reject-
ing the idea, according to
The Denver Post
.
Prior to the election, Smoker Friendly’s
Mary Szarmach wrote a compelling op-ed
opposing the measure, which would have
boosted the cigarette levy by $1.75 per pack.
Published in the Daily Camera, Szarmach’s
piece described the tax as potentially “disas-
trous for our business,” referring to Smoker
Friendly’s 102-store chain of gas, tobacco and
convenience stores.
“The last time we weathered a tax increase
of this magnitude, we had to close 19 percent of
our stores and lay off over 70 hard-working em-
ployees,” she wrote. “Tax increases such as these
also make for a less safe work environment.
Break-ins and armed robberies have grown be-
tween 10 and 20 percent in other states where
this type of tax increase has taken place.”
According to Szarmach, Amendment 72
offers few guarantees that the $315 million in
Voters Just Said
No
toColorado’s
CigTax Hike
Amendment 72 was defeated
in the election on November 8.
new tax dollars would be spent appropriately.
Furthermore, Szarmach went on, “most of
the new revenue generated by this tax is ded-
icated to programs that have not even been
determined. Fifty-one percent of new tax dol-
lars fund grant awards where guidelines have
not even been written. The lax oversight for
hundreds of millions of dollars creates conflict
of interest concerns,” she wrote, adding that,
while the more than $1 billion that Colorado
has already received from tobacco companies
under the Master Settlement Agreement was
earmarked for youth tobacco prevention and
tobacco cessation programs, most of the mon-
ey has been spent on unrelated government
programs.
“Before Colorado locks hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars in new spending into the state’s
constitution, voters deserve to know which pro-
grams this money funds, and that it won’t be
wasted,” she asserted. “Our state needs money
for roads and schools, yet Amendment 72 does
not dedicate a dime to these pressing issues.”
INTRODUCED FOR THE THIRD TIME
in 10 years, California’s Proposition 56
finally passed—and by a wide margin
(63 percent to 37 percent). The measure
will boost California’s cigarette excise tax
by $2 per pack, up from the current 87
cents per pack. In addition to cigarettes,
the ballot measure also called for a hike
in taxes on other tobacco products (OTP),
including smokeless tobacco and cigars.
Electronic cigarettes are also included
in the measure, which calls for vapor
products to be subject to the same taxes
that California currently imposes on other
smokeless tobacco products, which will
be raised in line with the $2 per pack
excise tax increase on cigarettes.
The bottom line? Taxes on e-cigarette
liquid containing nicotine could be as
much as 67 percent, raising the amount
vapers pay for a standard 30ml bottle
from $20 to $30.
California was one of the few states
to pass a tobacco tax hike. Voters in
Missouri, Colorado and North Dakota
rejected similar ballot measures in the
November 8 election.
California
Cig Tax Ballot
Initiative
Passes
Proposition 56 will
raise the state excise
tax on tobacco products,
including electronic
cigarettes.