Robin Huebner’s Sunday column, “North Dakota ranks high in use of smokeless tobacco,” was grossly misleading. As Rob Port pointed out, North Dakota may have the third highest smokeless rate in the U.S., but the state’s smoking ranking is “middle of the pack,” despite a relatively low cigarette excise tax. Worse, Huebner, along with Holly…
LaFaive And Nesbit: Raising ND Tobacco Tax Could Lead To Rampant Smuggling
Michael LaFaive is director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Todd Nesbit, Ph.D., is senior lecturer in economics at Ohio State University. Two proposals to hike the state excise tax on cigarettes in Bismarck between $1.10 and $1.56 may very well yield the state more revenue, but it will…
North Dakota Is A Net Exporter Of Smuggled Cigarettes
The map above was created by the Tax Foundation based on a study conducted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. It ranks the states by the amount of percentages of cigarettes consumed that are the result of smuggling. As you can see, North Dakota is a net exporter of smuggled cigarettes, which isn’t that…
Guest Post: Let Minnesota Serve As North Dakota's Cautionary Tale
As a returning, former resident of North Dakota I am watching with interest the North Dakota legislature with regard to the piles of money the oil boom has brought to the state and the ways in which those in elected office are spending said tax payer dollars. The following is a cautionary tale to all…
New York City Wants To Raise Legal Tobacco Age From 18 To 21
Big, paternalistic government taking yet another step toward infantilizing Americans. At 18 you’re old enough to fight in wars, enter into legal contracts, be tried as an adult for crimes and drive in cars but in New York City they want to make it so you’re too young to choose to smoke a cigarette. The…
America Has Tobacco Prohibition Through Regulation
Most Americans don’t like tobacco use. That’s why state after state, city after city, has passed increasingly aggressive bans on tobacco use. The proponents of this sort of policy bristle when they’re called prohibitionists, but they really are. Their goal isn’t public health. Their goal is to limit the choices you and I can make.…
Mummies Had Clogged Arteries, Nanny Statists Hardest Hit
The basis for government laws regulating unhealthy foods and drinks, up to and including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sugary drinks which is in effect starting tomorrow, is the idea that they cause problems such as heart disease. But new research into mummies indicates that heart disease was a problem for human…
Nanny Statism Versus Artistic Freedom
In Minnesota there is a statewide smoking ban, but that ban contains an exemption for theatrical productions. If you’re in a play or some other sort of performance you’re allowed to smoke on stage. But now the nanny statists, whose appetite for the eradication of habits they dislike seems unquenchable, want to close that loophole…
Video: Democrats Argue In Favor Of Burdening Poor With Tax Hikes For Their Own Good
Yesterday the North Dakota House voted down HB1387 which would have instituted a 127% tax hike on cigarettes. The bill failed on by 19 – 72 vote margin, but the debate was interesting. Rep. Glen Froseth, arguing against the bill, noted that tax hikes on tobacco use disproportionately burden the poor. But Rep. Eliot Glassheim,…
A Tobacco Tax Hike More Likely To Inspire Smuggling Than Quitting
Grand Forks Rep. Eliot Glassheim has introduced a bill, HB1387, which would represent a massive 127% tax hike on cigarette sales. The excise tax would go from $0.44/pack to $1.00/pack. Glassheim says that he expects the tax hike to raise $59 million in new revenue for the state, but that his goal isn’t so much…