The New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) was joined by local businesses and law enforcement officials in staunch opposition to the tobacco flavor ban and the cigarette excise tax proposals in Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget.
At an event outside of a Crosby’s convenience store in West Seneca, they detailed the risks and unintended consequences that come with these policy changes, including super powering the illicit market, a significant drop in state and local tax revenue and lost jobs as menthol sales shift from legitimate retailers to criminal enterprises. What these changes won’t do is stop people from smoking.
“Raising taxes and prohibiting products from legal retail sales will not prevent consumers from finding cheaper and illegal means to obtain tobacco items,” NYACS President Kent Sopris said. “The state’s underground market is actually in plain sight and it contributes to job losses and crime.”
There are more than 13,000 licensed retailers that sell tobacco in New York, which in turn employ hundreds of thousands of people and generate more than $1.3 billion in state and local taxes each year. Banning flavored tobacco products would affect these jobs along with thousands of others employed with wholesalers and distributors. Also, by the Division of Budget’s own numbers, these proposals would lead to a $100 million loss in state tax revenue this year. Massachusetts recently instituted its own flavor ban and as a result, menthol cigarette sales skyrocketed by more than 126 percent in Rhode Island and New Hampshire border counties.
If the excise tax is passed, New York would have the highest cigarette tax in the nation, which as history has shown, would lead to more smuggling and a more powerful illicit market. New York last increased its state cigarette tax in 2010. Following the tax increase, New York’s smuggling rate jumped more than 13 percentage points, from 47.5 percent of all packs consumed in the state in 2009 to 60.9 percent in 2011, according to the Tax Foundation.
Elliot T. Boyce, Sr., Director of the New York State Police (Ret.), said: “A ban on Menthol cigarettes will create a strain on law enforcement resources across the State of New York. Instead of addressing gun violence, felonies and other relevant community concerns, they will be policing the newly criminalized personal preference of menthol cigarettes.”
Deputy Chief Wayne Harris of the Rochester Police Department (Ret.) and Board Chair for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership said: “As we look to transform policing, and as we have legalized recreational marijuana use, New York State is considering legislation to prohibit the sale of menthol tobacco products. This legislation is racially discriminatory as African Americans and people of color make up the largest demographic of menthol tobacco users. Prohibitions such as this have only ever resulted in crime and violence. This ban on menthol will have the same result. It will further exacerbate the already large percentage of illegal cigarettes sold in NY, and it will drive those illegal sales into our streets. This legislation will create opportunities for police/citizen interaction that can potentially turn negative or deadly as our police officers are tasked with addressing the crime and violence this legislation will bring.”
Tom Gumkowski, Vice President of Business Development, TripiFoods, said: “If these proposals are enacted, the state will be making it more difficult for consumers to get these flavored tobacco products but not impossible. If a person chooses to use these products, they will find a way to source them. We would ask the Governor to reexamine the impact of these proposals, and replace them with increasing cessation and enforcement efforts.”
