IN BRIEF

Tax Difference Shapes Tobacco Buying

AUGUST 03, 2012

Fewer Americans are smoking cigarettes, but a growing number are turning to cigarettelike cigars that can sell for as little as seven cents apiece or to making cigarettes from inexpensive loose tobacco labeled for pipe use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Sales of these other forms of tobacco—which are taxed at significantly lower rates than both cigarettes and tobacco specifically labeled ‘roll your own’—have soared in recent years, the C.D.C. said.” (New York Times)

People act to blunt the effects of government interference.

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