Smokers forgo cartons as cigarette taxes soar

Read full article: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 2009-03-22
Author: BILL BOWDEN

Summary:
ROGERS - Smokers have all but stopped purchasing cigarettes by the carton in this city, retailers say.

Instead, they buy packs of cigarettes in Rogers with which to get by until they can drive to Missouri, 25 miles north, where cigarettes are less expensive - by as much as $10 per carton.

Vicky Rasnick, owner of a Jiffy Kwick convenience store in Rogers, said her cigarette sales are down about 50 percent so far in March.

"It's awful," she said. "Our carton sales are almost none. I've been here 22 years, and this is the worst I've seen it. This month is the single biggest hit we've ever had."

The cost of a carton of cigarettes has jumped by about $10 - if not more - so far in March. Arkansas implemented a new $5.60 per carton tax on March 1, after House Bill 1204 was passed by the Legislature on Feb. 12 and became Act 180.

Adding to the burden, major cigarette manufacturers are raising prices at the wholesale level. Then federal government's new $6.17 per carton excise tax goes into effect on April 1. A carton generally contains 10 packs of cigarettes, with 20 cigarettes in each pack.

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