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Some opponents of cigarette tax increases say it is ironic that discussion continues in Illinois about a possible further cigarette tax increase, given reports that Chicago,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], where $4.67 in taxes were being levied per pack of cigarettes last year,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], has already experienced a loss of revenue apparently as a result of smokers in the city traveling to Indiana, where cigarette taxes are lower,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], to stock up.
Indeed, it was recently reported that Chicago could be losing $10 million a year as a result of its high taxes versus Indiana’s low taxes—and related smuggling. Professor David Merriman, chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Illinois, in a not-so-routine research exercise, undertook a study of discarded cigarette packs from 100 Chicago neighborhoods. 75 percent of the discarded cigarette packs he examined in fact bore no Chicago cigarette tax stamp; furthermore,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], most of the untaxed,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], discarded cigarette packs were found close to the Indiana border, or counties that levied lower taxes than Chicago.
Professor Merriman has reportedly since concluded that were a proposed $1 per pack tax hike pushed through in Illinois, it would lead to even more smuggling. This is a conclusion shared by Michael LaFaive, the executive director of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, who said on the topic last year that “the proximity of Chicago to other cities could lead to an increase in smuggling in Chicago if taxes are raised.”
Ahead of the 2010 No Tobacco Day (31 May), the European Commission unveils the results of a Eurobarometer survey which showsthat a strong majority of EU citizens support stronger tobacco control measures. For example, three in every four Europeans supports picture health warnings on tobacco packs and smoke free restaurants. The survey also shows, however,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], that nearly one in every three Europeans still smokes,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], despite the fact that tobacco kills half of its users. The Commission is planning to launch an open consultation shortly with a view to revising the 2001 Tobacco Products Directive and is stepping up its tobacco control efforts throughout the EU.[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
“There was a lot of dissension at first,” Blain said, “but now everybody is pretty used to it. It doesn’t seem to be a problem at all.”
And Rockville isn’t alone. In Middletown, the Polish Falcons Nest 519 voted to ban smoking in the club room, effective May 1. A chapter of the Loyal Order of Moose in Hartford removed its cigarette machine. And an East Hartford Moose chapter cordoned off some areas for nonsmokers.
The Franco-American Club of Bristol allows smoking in the bar area on the first floor, but the recently renovated upstairs banquet room is smoke-free as a result of a membership vote about three years ago, club President Carroll Pelletier said. Many members especially enjoy dining in a smoke-free room, Pelletier said.
And last week the Manchester Elks Lodge on Bissell Street voted on a smoking ban, although club members on Thursday refused to discuss the outcome.
Not all clubs are moving toward banning smoking, though. At the Hartford Elks Lodge No. 19, Ray Smith, the exalted ruler, or president, said that the group’s members had not considered instituting a ban. He said that about half of the lodge’s members smoked,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and that smoking was “actually a draw” for many. Some people go to the lodge, he said, because the state’s anti-smoking regulation makes it so that “they can’t smoke anyplace else.”