Why do they always send the poor?

Okay. Long weekend, but one of the things that really started it off wrong…

 

Freakachu smokes. Nasty habit, he’s managed to quit once now, but hit a really stressful bit & started smoking again. I, having done this before, went online & ordered cigarettes from this website – a “mail order” cigarette website out of one of the Indian reservations in New York State.  It was nice – it allowed me to get several cartons for around $12/carton including shipping & handling. Very sweet.

 

Here’s the thing. When you order smokes online, you don’t pay the usual state taxes & tariffs that are built into a cigarette purchase made at your local smoke shop. This is why they’re so cheap, and with a lot of the cigarette taxes that have been approved lately, there’s probably a significant number of people who have begun ordering their smokes from out of state to avoid these taxes. 

 

A letter arrived, detailing the fact that Washington State knows about the cigarettes we bought online, and itemizing the taxes they expect us to pay per carton.  Directly to Washington State.  Surprise!  The thing that I found particularly interesting was exactly HOW MUCH the Washington State Treasury is getting per carton. Taxes per carton: approx. $27.  Cost of the Tobacco, and the conversion of the agricultural product into a smokable status? I’ll figure a sparse 33% markup on the part of the New York Tribes, and put cost at $8. (probably cheaper production cost that that. This is a Vice commodity, after all.) So, cost: $8. Retail Markup: $4. Taxes: $27.

 

Keep in mind the demographic with the highest proportion of smokers is the poor, mentally unstable, uneducated & unskilled.  (yeah, mentally unstable is not a PC term, but I cant remember what we’re supposed to say now. Besides, I live with the Freak, and he’s a poster child for instability.)  So, this tax? Who’s paying it? The people who can’t afford it, who can’t afford the drugs or counseling to quit, who can’t afford the health issues resulting from a chemical addiction that puts you through really nasty withdrawals when you do try to quit. 

 

Am I justified in being pissed off by these numbers? Yeah, I probably voted for more than a couple of those tax increases myself. Yeah, I could tell freak I’m not paying for cigarettes anymore, and leave town for the 2 weeks it would take for his withdrawal period to finish, at which point I’d no longer be in danger of my life.  Yeah, it’s a dirty filthy habit and people who willingly poison themselves that way deserve to pay a huge tax, because suicide is a mortal sin & condemns your immortal soul to endless torment. Or something.  Still, regressive taxes always piss me off, whether I’m justified in being pissed or not.

 

Of course, it could simply be I’m peeved because I have to send an unexpected $70+ check to the Washington State Treasury because all alcohol & tobacco purchases made NATIONALLY now get reported to the Feds. Which is supposedly how Washington State found out about us ordering smokes online. Big Brother, anyone?