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Smokers' Patience Is Taxed

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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: April 2, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - John Vazquez was so angry that smoke was practically coming out his ears.

The owner of JV's Starters and Alternators in Dade City, Vazquez is one of a multitude of local smokers and tobacco users being hit in the wallet by a federal tax on cigarettes that went into effect after midnight Tuesday.

A few weeks ago, Vazquez said, he could buy two cartons of his beloved Benson & Hedges for about $80, with tax. Now two cartons cost about $96.

"I think I'd find somebody else to pick on, but what the hell are you going to do but grin and bear it?" Vazquez said. "Why can't they put a tax on tofu or some other nonsense? Why not sushi?"

In February, President Barack Obama, a cigarette smoker struggling to quit, signed legislation raising tobacco taxes to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

The federal tax on a pack of cigarettes went from 39 cents to a dollar, and the tax for small cigars went from 2 cents to 50 cents. The tax on loose cigarette tobacco shot from $1.98 a pound to $24.78.

Fortunately for Vazquez, cigarettes are less expensive in Pasco County than his native Michigan, where two cartons of Benson & Hedges cost him $129 a couple weeks ago.

At Tobacco Depot in the Willow Bend Towne Centre, Nick Rapisardi said customer traffic hasn't slowed because of the new tax, but his regulars are complaining. The store is at Collier Parkway and State Road 54 in Land O' Lakes.

"Some people are wondering why they aren't taxing tobacco and alcohol," he said. "A lot of the roll-your-own people are talking about quitting, though."

He said sales of generic cigarettes have risen noticeably since the tax increase.

Puffing on a cigar, customer John Janney said the tax hike will "be like Prohibition, in a sense."

"Certain things are luxuries for some people," he said.

As she bought a pack of Skydancer menthol 100s for $2.84 - almost $1.50 cheaper a pack than Misty 120s, her regular brand - Land O' Lakes resident Angie Contreras tried to look on the bright side.

"Maybe this will give me an incentive to quit," she said. "I'm seriously considering it, and I've been smoking a long time - more than 20 years."

Quitting is one thing Vazquez isn't likely to ponder. He survived quintuple bypass surgery about five years and resumed smoking a few weeks after being released from the hospital.

"I might try to start growing some tobacco in my backyard," he said.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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