Our View On Smoking, Toking & Taxes

Teenage smokers, be aware, unless you are 19 it is now against the law in Arkansas to purchase cigarettes, which to us will be as difficult to enforce as it is to keep illegal drugs, including marijuana out of the possession of anyone who wants them.

And, in a couple of years or 2021, the minimum age to purchase cigarettes will jump to 21.

Oh, but wait, Arkansas does now allow smoking pot for the certain medical purposes and we suspect that by next year Arkansans will be deciding at the polls legalizing smoking pot for simple recreational reasons is okay also.

Lawmakers spent a considerable amount of time during their last legislative session coming up with ways to generate new tax revenues such as the fees and taxes they have placed on marijuana production and sales. And, let’s not forget the increased taxes on gasoline and now they also raised the minimum markup on cigarettes, raised taxes on cigarette papers and repealed the reduced border city tobacco tax rate, that border city cigarette peddlers say will simply put them out of business.

We’ve been sold on the idea that raising these tobacco related taxes is for a good cause and that’s by raising state revenues will go to help the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences obtain designation from the National Cancer Institute.

And get this folks, these Republican politicians had even contemplated imposing a special excise tax, or better known as the familiar “sin-tax” that is currently gouging cigarette users, on e-cigarettes.

The sponsor of that idea, Rep. Andy Davis, R-Little Rock, withdrew his e-cigarette sin tax proposal because it was too controversial, but let’s not kid ourselves into believing that such a tax on e-cigarettes won’t come up again during the next regular session in 2021.

Even Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, sponsored a bill that would have imposed an excise tax on e-cigarettes but it was also shelved in the House.

Listen, these politicians can’t help themselves from thinking about going after e-cigarette smokers as evident in plans to put together a legislative study on the matter with hearings to begin this month. We’re told those hearings will be conducted by Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee chairwoman, Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View.

And, we suspect that that will lead to the likelihood of calling a special session to address the use of e-cigarettes, commonly called vaping, then again, it may be too controversial.

Listen, we all know the dangers of tobacco use and the enormous health care costs attributed to tobacco but it certainly doesn’t take a genius to see how these politicians are using this as means to tax users to death knowing full well that making tobacco illegal would be impossible not to mention the fact doing so would result in the loss of millions upon millions of sin taxes.

Now, on this border tax, in order to raise even more money for UAMS, the sponsors of Act 580 repealed this exception that allows tobacco retailers near bordering states to charge lower tax rates to remain competitive.

We found it interesting that several north Arkansas mayors only recently found out about the repeal of the border tax rate and they are now concerned about the financial impact it will have on their small towns What is going to occur is those retailer stores that owe much of their business to tobacco consumers from other Arkansas cities, will go across the state line to Missouri where the per-pack tax is 98 cents less than what is collected in Arkansas.

The question that arises now is what political repercussions will these new taxes and fees have on these Republican politicians come election year?