Cigarette price news, March 2010

Utah - Cig taxes going up $1

USA - The state of the tobacco industry in 2009

USA - Anti-smoking lobbies want to increase tobacco taxes more

UK - Anti-smoking charity wants 5% smoking tax increase, taxes are already heavy in the UK

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It's pretty unlikely that any taxes on tobacco products will go down anytime soon. Since along with other taxes last year, they also heavily taxed roll-your-own cigarettes, it's not the same alternative it used to be. You can still pretty much halve your smoking costs will roll your own, though.

Cigarette Price News for June 1st and a cigarette prices by state report

Montreal: Depanneur group wants cigarette prices lowered

A group representing owners of convenience stores says a new poll has found that higher taxes on cigarettes are playing a role in store closures.

The group says contraband cigarettes cost about $2, whereas legal cigarettes cost around $8 or $9....

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Thailand: Poll: Cigarette Smokers too weak to quit

Most Thai smokers would like to quit smoking but they have not been very successful, according to a survey by the Suan Dusit Poll.

On the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, the survey was conducted between Thursday and Sunday, involving 1,092 respondents, both smokers, second-hand smokers and non-smokers, in Bangkok and nearby provinces.

On the respondents’ views on cigarette smokers, 41.06 per cent said smokers can smoke without causing troubles to others. 30.72 per cent were worried about the health of smokers. 28.22 per cent believed smokers had the right to smoke....

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Australia: Tobacco tax will widen wealth gap

A proposal to increase taxes on cigarettes would direct the money of some of the worst off in our society to some of the most affluent, writes Jennifer Doggett.....

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Some recent cigarette price reports

Cigarette Prices in:

Western New York: $4.75-$5.75

Kansas: $4.50-$5.50

Des Moines, Iowa: $5.15

Boise, Idaho: $5.25+

Baltimore, Maryland: $5.50-$6.00

These are prices for a pack of premium cigarettes like Camel, Marlboro, Newport, Doral etc.

Cigarette prices and a friend's friend

Cigarette Price News from May 24, 2009

Florida cigarette price news: The smoking gun: The facts behind the cigarette tax hike

Older story from March: Single Largest Cigarette Tax Hike Goes Into Effect Wednesday

From San Francisco: Newsom's Proposed Cigarette Tax a Pain in the Butt for Smokers

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I got a call from a friend who had been visiting Arkansas and Georgia over the last week. He's visiting family there and is an avid smoker of Doral and Basic, prefers Menthols and 100s. Always looking out for prices, so he gave me the rundown of the price of cigarettes in that area, mostly in the rural parts of those states. Camel, Newports and Virginia Slims were selling for the most, for some reason.

Anyway, what's important is that he'd been out at a bar with his cousin and met a salesperson from Marlboro and discussed cigarettes and cigarette taxes with him. The guy said that they're not too sure where the price of cigarettes are going or how much a pack of cigarettes will cost next week or next year because of the current government and the recession. My friend didn't tell me much else, aside from thinking it was strange that the Marlboro guy didn't even smoke Marlboros and instead smoked Winston lights.

My friend got some Marlboro cigarette coupons from the guy though, which is pretty nice.

Prices of different cigarette brands

Most of the cigarette prices that we post on Cigarette Price Watch are for premium cigarette brands like Marlboro, Camel, Winston or Parliament. Most gas stations or supermarkets sell only premium brands. There are tons of other brands out there, some of them dirt cheap. 

Where I live, in the northwest we have Indian reservations that sell cigarettes of all sorts. Before some of the recent cigarette tax and price hikes, you could get some cheaper brands like Carnival and Smokin' Joes for $15 per carton. That's very cheap since Marlboros have always gone for at least $4.75 per pack up here. 

You need to remember that when browsing the cigarette price list, they're for premium cigarette brands. A lot of smokers don't know that there's all sorts of cheaper cigarette brands out there, but they're rarely sold at gas station or supermarkets. You can order those cheap cigarettes online from distributors, or at smoke shops, but they usually charge a lot more than they're worth.

The variety of cigarette brands differs around the United States. Most cigarettes are produced in southern states, primarily the south-east. South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, around there. In those states you can get more variety than somewhere like the northwest, where it's mostly premium cigarettes unless you go to a smoke shop or indian reservation. 

The prices of cigarettes are also much cheaper in that region. Not too long ago you could get premium brands for 15 bucks a carton in gas stations in South Carolina. People are always asking how much a pack of cigarette costs in different areas, but don't realize how much the price of cigarettes or the price of a carton of cigarettes differs around the nation. 

Cigarette prices in Olympia, Washington

Cigarette prices, according to one of our contacts, are around $5.50 to $6.00 per pack at most gas stations and convenience stores in the Olympia, Washington area. Brands like Marlboro and Camel are going for around $5.75 per pack, with other brands for a little bit lower. 

The prices for cigrettes is higher in Lacey than in Tumwater and Olympia, according to our contact. He said that in April the cigarette prices took their biggest jump, much higher than the cigarette prices were in 2008. The price of cigs was been hitting that area hard, but the effect is not as bad as in other parts of the country because the economic recession hasn't hit the northwest as badly as the southwest and northeast. 

Kools, Basic and Newports were going for a slight bit less than Marlboros.