On January 1, 1998, New Jersey became one of the most expensive states in the country for smokers and tobacco lovers under a bill that proposes to ensure health and hospital insurance for 1.3 million mostly impoverished people, including about 100,000 children. New Jersey is now tied for third, behind Alaska ($1 per pack), Washington (82.5 cents per pack) and Hawaii (also 80 cents per pack).

On the above date, the cigarette tax was doubled to 80 cents a pack and the sales tax on other tobacco products was likewise doubled to 48 percent. The legislation passed the Senate 33-6 and the Assembly 58-18.

The 100 percent tax increases were part of a package that is supposed to put an end to years of uncertainty over the funding of charity care, a term referring to the treatment that hospitals are required by law to give uninsured patients, regardless of their ability to pay.

Gov. Whitman characterized the tax as a "user fee", which people could avoid by choosing not to buy tobacco products. A "user fee" implies that someone is paying for a service or facility that they choose to use. Since this tax is being used to fund services that are not restricted to people paying the tax, she has quite obviously lied. The fact of the matter is, that at least in the short run, demand for tobacco products is inelastic. In essence, this means that an increase in the tax on tobacco products will generate more revenue even if the number of users decreases. And, in fact, New Jersey expects that the increased tax will cause a 14% drop in sales to underage smokers and an 8% drop in sales to all other smokers. If we assume that there will be an overall 10% drop in sales, then the new tax will still generate 80% more revenue to the State of New Jersey. And that is the real reason for the tax increase!

People who choose to smoke should not be more liable to support general welfare programs than anyone else in the state. As for Gov. Whitman and the members of the New Jersey Congress who supported this tax, they have once again shown their contempt for the rights of individuals who happen to be in the minority or choose to participate in a "politically incorrect" activity. Hopefully, people who believe in individual rights and personal freedom will remember what they did and refuse to support them in any attempt to be re-elected to their current office or elected to any other public office.

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