The pressure for a state tobacco tax increase has been building for months, with health advocacy groups urging the Legislature to make the cost of smoking higher as a way of pricing smokers out of the unhealthy habit. Photo by Arielle Dreher.
Monday, February 26, 2018
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A pack of Marlboros at a convenience store near the Mississippi Capitol costs about $4.99, which includes tax.
If the Legislature chooses one possible option for a cigarette tax increase, the same pack could run $5.31.
The pressure for a state tobacco tax increase has been building for months, with health advocacy groups urging the Legislature to make the cost of smoking higher as a way of pricing smokers out of the unhealthy habit.
Some legislators followed through, drafting bills to raise taxes from the current 68 cents per pack to at least $1.
None of these bills survived, but a bond bill that is still surviving gives legislators one more shot: It could be amended later for a cigarette tax increase.
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