Tribal Cigarette Brands Take Shelf Space; Avoid State Excise Taxes

Less than two months after New York State lawmakers won a court battle to collect excise tax on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations to non-tribe members, some Native American tribes are taking to manufacturing their own cigarettes to avoid the levy.
In mid-June, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court lifted a temporary injunction against the collection of the $4.35-per-pack tax. Immediately following that decision, Robert Odawi Porter, president of the Seneca Nation of Indians, said the tribes would turn to making their own cigarettes, therefore exempting them from the fee.
"While the state may be able to embargo through taxation premium brands from entering our territory, it cannot tax the brands made in our territory or any of the Six Nations," he said, as CSNews Online previously reported.

The Financial Benefits of Dropping the Cigarettes

If you smoke, you already know the average cost of a pack of cigarettes is somewhere around $5 (not including sales tax) in most states. However, depending on your circumstances and habits, the price of smoking could really skyrocket.
Here are just some of the costs you could encounter as a smoker:

The above figures demonstrate how the average smoker could easily pay $8,300 in one year as a result of their habit. But let’s not forget tax. The cigarette tax imposed varies drastically from state to state, but in California, for instance, the tax is only $0.87 while in New York, the tax jumps drastically to $4.35 along with an additional $1.50 municipal tax. This means New York residents could spend $2,106 per year in cigarette taxes alone.

Dropping the Habit Could Help You Save Money

Americans could easily save thousands of dollars every year in cigarettes and other related costs. Here are just a few ways that this money could be used in more productive ways:

• Savings: With the money you’re not spending on cigarettes, you could open a high-interest savings account, money market account or CD to not only store your savings but grow them as well.
• Investments: If you want to take that growth to the next step, investments like stocks, bonds and mutual funds are great ways to earn a higher return.
• Retirement: Did you know the average American will have to retire on $190 a month at the current retirement savings rate? You could always add the money you spend on smoking to your 401(k) or IRA account instead.
• Paying down debt: Another great way to make use of the money is to pay down your debt. Whether you’re reducing your credit card debt, paying off a car loan or paying off a collection account, you would have plenty of money to manage your debt.
• College savings: If you want to start saving for your child’s education, you could use money left over from dropping the habit to do so.

In addition to helping you save money, dropping the habit could also save your job. According to research from the Society for Human Resource Management, 1 percent of companies have chosen to steer clear from hiring smokers.
Further, as reported by MSN, Weyco, a medical-benefits administrator in Michigan that was opposed to employing smokers, fired four employees who would not submit a breath test. Employees with the company who do smoke are charged $80 per-month if their test isn’t clean.

The Cost of Quitting Isn’t So Cheap

Hopefully, the health risks associated with cigarette smoking (including lung cancer, nicotine addiction, heart attack, stroke, emphysema, COPD and pancreatic cancer, to name a few) are enough reason to quit smoking. If that isn’t a motivator, though, the cigarette cost itself should do the trick.
If you have decided that quitting the habit is for you, however, it’s good to know that you may have to use some of your smoking money to cover the cost of being weaned off of cigarettes.
According to SmokeFreedom.net, the cost of quitting cigarettes could vary significantly depending on your method. For instance, if you try the patch, you might pay $200 over a six-week period. However, if you use a nicotine inhaler for up to six months, the cost could average $3,100.
Of course, you could also try the cold turkey route, which means you simply stop buying and smoking cigarettes. For some, it’s just that easy and for others, assistance is necessary.
Most people try different methods of quitting cigarettes have to quit a couple of times before they actually kick the habit for good. So, if you’ve already broken down and lit up in 2011, don’t give up. Resolve to quit again in the coming weeks and this time, think about the money you’re saving.

New Zealand plans logo-free cigarette packs

Strict against smoking already, New Zealand plans to make tobacco companies remove their logos from cigarette packs but will wait until a challenge to a similar Australian law is resolved.
The packaging law "will remove the last remaining vestige of glamor from these deadly products," Associate Minister of Health Tariana Turia said in announcing the plan Tuesday.
New Zealand already has increased cigarette taxes and makes retailers hide packs below the counter. The new legislation would follow an Australian law that took effect in December and replaced logos on packs with graphic warnings including cancer-riddled mouths.

The story of John Rolfe and tobacco

In American history, Virginia, occupy an important position. In 1607, the United Kingdom in the state's Jamestown to establish the first one of the settlements in North America. Not only that, the state also was born to Washington, founding president of the United States as the representative of 8 president known as the "president of the township". It can be said that Virginia U.S.. However, little is known about 400 years ago, one named John Rolfe, the British tobacco Virginia economy has pulled back from the brink of recession. In June 1609, in the voyage from England to colonial Virginia, John Rolfe, a paradise island in an unscheduled extremely important stopover.

 Lasted four days the storm battered many vessels, Rolf and his wife, Sarah traveled on the ship aground on an island of Bermuda. In the second year, when the construction of approximately 100 persons in distress, "patience" and the "rescued" two new ships in order to complete the remainder of the voyage to Jamestown, Sarah gave birth to the daughter of Rolf - Bermuda. In May 1610, Rolf arrived in London, James, his wife and daughter died on the way, unfortunately. A few years later, his own plantation called "Bermuda 100" in honor of his daughter.

Studies show that nearly 40% of the cigarette in the U.S. state of Washington for illegal products

The Mai Kennuo Public Policy Center Michael La Feifu, said: "In essence, many government tobacco products as expensive as illegal drugs." Smuggled cigarettes on the Washington people, that is, do not need to pay $ 3.02 per pack state tax thing.

In 2010, Washington cigarette tax per pack increased $ 1, to make the state's cigarette tax to reach the fourth highest of the United States. The Washington Revenue Service Mike Geli Lao said the tax office will soon release their own smuggling cigarettes statistics, he expects the number of smuggling cigarettes approximately one-third.