YOUR COMMENTS

TO me the point is not quit smoking if us smokers do not like the tax. The point is that government is allowed to raise the tax on anything at anytime to increase revenue because of shortfalls. All smokers and non smokers should be outraged regardless if you hate us smokers. The true problem is government overspending and until we stand as one this will continue.
- T. McGovern, methuen

You smokers out there are really angry! As a non smoker, I agree you have the right to slowly kill yourself with your stinky habit. Maybe there should be federal tax write off for the taxes you pay for you cancer sticks. That would encourage more smoking. And you all deserve shorter work weeks so you can have smoke breaks at the job, afterall your special, your a smoker! A real patriot standing up for the rights of other smokers. With any luck, new studies will come out showing smoking is good for you! Anything to justify your self destructive behavior.
- Jose, Manchester

Joseph in Bedford

Thanks! When I choose to quit smoking I'll consider calling the number. But I smoke a brand that says right on the box non addictive tobacco. It seems government has not gotten around to suing them yet for more money to spend on rediculas government run programs. I choose therefore I'm punished. Of all things Government impossing sin taxes. That's some kind of inside joke I think.

Steve in Hooksett

As I said one day your freedom of choice will be the target so long as the state needs funds. If you listen you should be able to hear my laughter when the day arrives. I also use an ashtray or put the filters in my back pocket if outside. Your going to have to lay that guilt trip on someone else. But it's nice to know your better than some of your fellow citizens in your own mind. Arrogance is a sin so let's start the arrogance tax. LOL I'll be comming for you.
- Deb, Derry

Matthew in Plymouth, coffee is already taxed. When you go to Dunkins to get your cup of coffee, you pay the meals tax.
- C Johnson, Bow

Smokers are the last race of people pushed out into the cold in winter.

In the United States our laws are written to prosecute the cause of things, not the effect. If people drive drunk, ban alcohol. If non-smokers inhale second-hand smoke, ban cigarettes.

This country wasn't founded on freedom. It was founded on the freedom to practice the puritan religion. Thus we have today people in charge who mold society as they see fit.

Nicotine is a drug. I actually do not know the legal implications of taxes on drugs. Is there a caffeine tax? Why don't we tax coffee, or we can't because the majority of people drink coffee? How about a tax on tea? Oh wait, didn't that start a war?
- Matthew, Plymouth

Considering the way you all throw your butts out the window of your car and litter the roadways, you are 2nd class citizens! Hope they double the tax!!
- Steve, Hooksett

Did we all forget the core values of what it means to live in NH ? Does live free or die mean anything to anyone anymore, or is it just a nifty slogan that we print on our license plates to help bolster tourism ?

How is it fair to levy a tax against other hard working fellow citizens while YOU fail to contribute a fair share for expenses that YOU have incurred ?

How cowardly is it when the group you are increasing taxes on, are in essence helplessly addicted ?

None of us likes taxes, but they are a neccessary evil, so why not keep it fair and spread the increase amongst all who were responsible for incurring the debt in the first place, instead of levying a new tax on a particular segment.

Perhaps if everyones taxes went up, we all might start paying a little more attention and addressing the real reasons as to why our taxes and spending bugets are rising faster than the economy can support.

Just as we have to learn to live within our needs, so should the state !

Government needs to provide equal treatment to all of its citizens and not acting like a predator by shaking down a select group to pay for the expenses of others.

Perhaps this is how things are done in Washington, but we should not tolerate nor allow this type of partisan redistribution of wealth.

Lets NOT become another Massachusetts !
- Paul, Hillsboro, NH

To all of the smokers out there...the state has resources set up to aid in smoking cessation. 1800-try-to-stop , I know the UL doesn't like posting numbers or websites but this is a state hotline. The choice is yours to stop, quit blaming everybody under the sun for your addiction and lost money.
- Joseph, Bedford

Thanks Governor for making those of us who smoke pay even more and treating us like second class citizens at the same time. God forbid there could be a few places to eat or have a drink just for smokers and left up to the establishment owners to choose.

What other group of people out there pay fifty million in taxes while having their freedom to choose stripped from them. No non smoker would have been forced to work or go into a smoking establishment. For those who liked the idea not to worry. One day someone will target you when they think they know what is best for you. Maybe I'll be the better person and help protect your right to choose for yourself. That is if the freedom to choose still exists.

Some day's I'm just amazed at how much freedom of choice we have given away in the last forty years to those who know what's best for us.
- Deb, Derry

Thanks Governor for making those of us who smoke pay even more and treating us like second class citizens at the same time. God forbid there could be a few places to eat or have a drink just for smokers and left up to the establishment owners to choose.

What other group of people out there pay fifty million in taxes while having their freedom to choose stripped from them. No non smoker would have been forced to work or go into a smoking establishment. For those who liked the idea not to worry. One day someone will target you when they think they know what is best for you. Maybe I'll be the better person and help protect your right to choose for yourself. That is if the freedom to choose still exists.

In forty short years I can't believe how intrusive we have allowed government to be in our personal lives.
- Deb, Derry

I wonder if fewer people will come to New Hampshire to buy cigarettes at our convenience stores. I wonder if our convenience stores will sell fewer lottery tickets and other things. I wonder if business profits tax revenues from convenience stores will decrease.
- Ken Stremsky, Manchester, NH

Well said, Ryan M. Feel lucky you live in NH and quit complaining about everything. If you don't want to pay the tax then stop smoking! If I don't want to pay the Hooksett or Hampton tolls, I drive around them...I don't come to the UL website and make a fuss about it. Luxury taxing and tolls make it so we can avoid an income and sales tax.
- Jim, Manchester

This new tax increase is the same as saying we don't get enough tax revenue on gasoline because people are driving fuel efficient cars.
So we will raise taxes on the cars that get good gas mileage. It makes no sense but if the sheeple in this state apply the same logic, that is what would happen.
I'm sick of the Governments BS. People need to stand up and stop taxes from increasing in all areas.
- Tom W, Candia

It's hypocritical to say raising the tax is to help reduce smoking. If that happens the revenue supposedly coming from the tax increase would not be there. I don't think you really want the smoker to quit.
- Dan, Nashua

"Don't tax me or my neighbor, tax that guy standing behind the tree."

I'm not a smoker, but sticking it to a minority is becoming very popular. Sin taxes, income tax cuts for 95% on the national level and sticking it to the other 5%, additional fees on NH hunters, etc.

If the politicians want to raise salaries and benefits, add a program here and there, offload nursing home funding to the counties, and want to keep the archaic public pension system intact(underfunded by billions, and the underfunding will grow dramatically when this year's market values are factored in by the actuaries), the courageous thing to do would be to stand behind this increased spending and call for a broad based tax. At least that would be an honest debate.

Personally, I am totally against any broad based tax and believe in spending restraint, but what we have going on for the past several years is a backdoor effort to spend our way into a broad based tax. The budget crisis we have now was inevitable, even before the economic slowdown.

Our politicians now can claim that they are reluctantly, but courageously, going to do the right thing, and propose a sales or income tax, when it was probably the so-called progressives' plan all along. How else to explain a 17.5% budget increase? They had to know the property tax base cannot support that.
- Ditmar, Hollis

Iw ould seem to me that the "tax" on Wine & Spirits is already high as they state of NH makes between 20-40% markup on the products just for the pleasure of buying them in NH. Many folks that buy wine at supermarkets are already seeing increases as the retailers discount is lowered by another 5%. ( math majors thats another 50 to 75 cents a bottle or more) Lets come up a few ways to level the costs across state instead of just "sin" taxes
- Amy Kezar, Weare, NH

Does this make sense? If every smoker in NH quit smoking right now the state economy would collapse. So that means Kate M's kids would have no school to go to. I am a smoker. I am addicted to smoking cigarettes. I choose to feed mmy addiction rather than facing years of withdrawl pains. If you all really cared about my health you could outlaw smoking, but you won't because you need the money. (You're all welcome.) As for the argument for medicaid paying for a smoker's inevitable death, lets not forget that the majority of Americans don't smoke... but we all die. Smokers just don't take as much time dying (which saves money, really, go grab your calculator.) So who carries the bigger burden on the system? So comment board: do me a favor, don't spit in my eye with all your twisted facts and agenda driven arguments while taking more and more money out of my pockets. If you don't want me to smoke (which is still my right to do) outlaw cigarettes effective October 15th and I can be done paying for your kid's education!.

OR we can come to an agreement... stop targeting smokers and we will all accept things the way they are. Otherwise we WILL quit. And you can pretend all you want, but you DON'T want that. Trust me.
- EDWARD R, Manchester NH

Let me get this straight, because the revenues weren't high enough we're going to RAISE the price? That is supposed to increase revenues? Only a government bureaucrat could come up with such a stupid plan. I'll be buying my cigs online from now on.
- Bill, Manchester

We have all been so spoiled in NH. We do not pay sales tax or income tax yet we still expect our state to fund everyday services. The money has to come from somewhere! If the tolls get raised $.10 the immediate response is that the government is out to screw everyone. I would love to see how NH citizens would feel if we removed the cigarette tax and tolls replacing with a broad based sales and income tax.

Let's not play the "poor me" response b/c smokers have to pay an additional expense. I agree that smokers have been unfairly targeted to cover the expense however the law has been passed and if you do not agree than contact your local state politician and make your voice heard. All the "sins" that are taxed or should be taxed are luxury items and not a necessity. I do not need the 6-pack in my fridge I choose to buy it and if it were taxed to pave the highway or help buy text books for a school I will still buy it knowing I am helping to fund my state. I enjoying netting 5-8% more every paycheck by living and working in NH and would gladly pay a few cents for luxury items to save throusands per year.
- Ryan M, Manchester

While I am not a smoker and I understand that the state has overspent on the budget, how is it fair that Smokers bear the brunt of the tax increases in the state. It does not seem fair to me.

When this nation is in the midst of another recession and everyone is facing tough times, why is it that the economic burden is placed on individuals of one particular class. In this case, smokers. I don't agree with the comments that people are making regarding, "if you don't like it, quit smoking" this is not as easy as some may seem to think. While I have never smoked and never intend to, I do know that from the studies out there, it is an addiction and a hard habit to break.

As I was always told when growing up, "You will never know the meaning of something until you walk in the other persons shoes."
- CP, Weare, NH

Kate M of Marlow, NH...
Why not raise the tax on fast and fatty foods? We are paying for people with bad eating habits that have heart issues, diabetes, etc.
Or hey about about a tax on alcohol so less people drink and we worry less about alcohol related sicknesses.
Wake up - this has nothing to do with them wanting to help us smokers with out smoking related diseases - they KNOW that a lot of smokers will continue to smoke and so they raise the tax on us.
AND if we all quit smoking they would find something else to tax, so stop your complaining about your kids paying for someones healthcare - they will pay higher for something in the long run!
- Kristen, Manchester, NH

I don't smoke, so it has no effect on me however if you buy them online, you can avoid the tax altogether......never mind the fact they come right to your front door.
and Karen......don't give the state any ideas about taxing my Captain :-)
- Sydney, Londonderry

I am all for an even higher tax on cigarettes. I do not smoke and I am not against smoking if you choose to do it. I have friends that smoke, and let them smoke around me if they choose to. Its like the comedian Chris Rock said, we should make bullets cost like $1000/ each. You would see less gun crimes. Highere cigarette tax = lower cigarette consumption = better air quality! I think taxing stuff that voluntarily causes cancer is ok. And don't anyone pull the 2nd hand smoke does not cause lung cancer that I hear sometimes, because well think about this......how about the 1st hand smoke that comes off the end of the burning cigarette that goes into the air that does not even travel through the filter??? At least when you take a drag it is filtered, the stuff coming off the burning end is not!
- James, Derry

"The increase does not affect the price of cigars, pipe, smokeless and loose tobacco. "

Why not? These items are capable of causing just as many health problems for the users and/or people subjected to the second-hand smoke from the cigars and pipes.
- Stephanie Wells, Peterborough

But all you smokers will pay it cuz you gots to have your butts. :-)
- Bill, Berlin

Don't forget the liberals spouting how they will reduce taxes on the middle class and the poor....they can't...they spend too much and they have to tax us on things like liquor and cigarettes, car registrations, etc, to cover the debt If the liberals win this election you won't be seeing any reduction in taxes, someone has to pay for all the programs they are promising.......
- Dawn Gagnon, Manchester

What hypocrosy!!!! New Hampshire already collects millions from the Tobacco Co's to supposedly, "help" people who have smoking-related illnesses, so, the state holds small markets hostage, by telling them they have to push cigarette sales to collect $50,000 extra taxes to keep the state solvent.
STOP SPENDING SO MUCH!!!
- Shirley Copp, Rochester,N.H.

Molly, if you all stop smoking, the rest of us won't have to pay for your medicaid when you are sick from tobacco related illness. People NOT smoking will save us ALL money in the long run. My kids shouldn't have to pay to treat smokers who get sick! Raising the tax might just save some lives and save us all money later. NH needs revenue. So, vote for another kind of tax if you don't like the cigarette tax!
- Kate M, Marlow, NH

When do they vote on raising the Beer & Wine & Spirits tax??????? Was this vote a vote of the citizens of NH or the paid lobbyists?
- Karen B., Manchester, NH

im thrilled...they should have gone up $3.00 a pack....I think it is great
- louis, derry

Typical. If the public doesn't pony up enough money because the price of an item -- as in this case, cancer sticks -- is perceived to be too high already, why just raise the tax to generate more revenue. Riiight. Does it ever occur to these nitwits that raising the price of any commodity will DECREASE the demand.

Tolls are a perfect example; not enough $$$ coming to Concord from the various toll roads? The bureaucrat's answer is RAISE THE TOLL. The result: a further DECREASE in revenue to the state because the folks avoid the toll roads even more frequently.

As another poster here noted, the state is waging a Stop Smoking campaign. The more successful that campaign the less tax revenues from cigarettes will be realized. So, the nitwittery will respond, yet again, by raising the tax and, thereby, drive sales ever lower.

Liberals just don't GET economics! If they did B. HUSSEIN Obama wouldn't stand a bleepin' chance.

Have a day. Bang Gunley
- Bang Gunley, Hampton Beach

Thanks a lot, Democrats.

Vote them all out next month, and return our state to commonsense leadership.
- Keith, Manchester

This is a good thing. If you don't like it - don't smoke. How hard is that?
- John A., Manchester, NH

Who can I tax to make ends meet? I'm sorry, but government just doesn't understand that the more they nickel and dime us, the deeper in debt we get. Stop smoking, you say? And if we all stop smoking, where will the government get the millions of dollars they will lose in tax revenue? They'll just impose a different tax, so either way, we lose and the government just keeps getting to squander our hard earned dollars away. Bankruptcy anyone?
- Molly W, Manchester, NH