Cigarettes have been a relatively inexpensive addiction for smokers in Florida, even as a pack has neared $4 for most brands. ...more

March 27, 2009

Nicotine fiends who make it a habit to roll their own butts and save a few bucks will see their savings go up in smoke Wednesday when a new federal excise tax on tobacco kicks in. ...more

March 26, 2009

While the price of gasoline burned holes in the wallets of weary consumers last summer, one money-saving option for cash-strapped smokers caught on like wildfire. ...more

March 25, 2009

The federal excise tax increase on tobacco won't go into effect until next week. But throughout much of March, employees at Fred Hoyland's chain of 16 local Tobacco Depot stores scrambled to post new prices for some brands of cigars, cigarettes and tobaccos. ...more

March 25, 2009

The federal excise tax increase on tobacco won't go into effect until next week. But throughout much of March, employees at Fred Hoyland's chain of 16 local Tobacco Depot stores scrambled to post new prices for some brands of cigars, cigarettes and tobaccos. ...more

March 24, 2009

Santiago Carrasco, store manager of Tobacco Depot on Bloomingdale Avenue, said that about the time gas hit $4 a gallon, smokers with pipe dreams about saving a few bucks came in packs to his store to ask how – and how much it would cost - to roll their own cigarettes. But the do-it-yourself department that has been positively smokin' for some eight months is about to be extinguished, he said. An enormous price increase in conjunction with the federal excise tax that takes effect April 1 has already begun to snuff it out. ...more

March 20, 2009

Cigarettes have been a relatively inexpensive addiction for smokers in Florida, even as a pack has neared $4 for most brands. ...more

March 18, 2009

On April 1, the federal excise tax on cigarettes will rise to $1.01 per pack, up 62 cents from the current level. And the Florida Legislature is considering a $1-per-pack increase in the state tax. ...more

March 17, 2009

The U.S. House on Wednesday approved a major expansion of federally funded health coverage for children, a measure that would slam cigar manufacturers in Tampa and across the country with a big tax increase. ...more

January 15, 2009

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. ...more

May 2, 2008