A lot of people who roll their own cigarettes were outraged last year when the federal government boosted the tax on a pound of loose tobacco from $1.10 to $24.78. Taxes were raised on all forms of tobacco to pay for an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but the tax hike on roll-your-own tobacco was especially exorbitant. Yet the anger seemed to subside fairly quickly. Perhaps that’s because a lot of ... Jump to full article >>

City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke wants the city to venture where the state has not yet dared to go: the taxing of chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, and cigars. Clarke said he would introduce on Thursday a bill setting a 3.6-cent tax on each cigar and a 36 cents-per-ounce tax on loose forms of tobacco. That would mean 43 cents on a typical 1.2-ounce can of chewing tobacco. Snuff is also included, as are rolling papers, at a yet-to-be-determined rat ... Jump to full article >>

“Classification of tobacco as a drug should be avoided at all costs.” 1974 British American Tobacco memo After three tobacco cessation classes, Gulf County Sheriff Joe Nugent was hanging on. So was his staff. He and almost a dozen of his support personnel, investigators and deputies, along with other city and county employees, were halfway through their series of tobacco cessation classes. And they hadn’t lost that focused inte ... Jump to full article >>