Cross-border smuggling underway since tax hike; 'legal' cigarette sales down 15 percent in state, while Idaho sales are up 12 percent, Montana sales up 10.5 percent.OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 1995--A review of official tax revenue reports from Washington and some of its neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. states indicates that Washington state may be on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of returning to smuggling smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been adopted as an instrument of national policy, as by Great Britain and a black market not seen since the days of Prohibition prohibition, legal prevention of the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages, the extreme of the regulatory liquor laws. The modern movement for prohibition had its main growth in the United States and developed largely as a result of the . This time the product is tobacco. Washington Department of Revenue statistics show that sales of cigarettes have plummeted 15 percent in the months immediately following a July 1 cigarette tax increase that made Washington the highest taxed state in the nation for cigarettes. The state cigarette tax now stands at $8.10 per carton, having been raised by $2.50 per carton. Official state revenue department reports from Idaho reveal that cigarette sales have increased 12 percent since Washington state increased its tax. Tax records in Montana show a 10.5 percent increase. Oregon numbers were not yet available. "This level of activity by smugglers who openly defy de·fy tr.v. de·fied, de·fy·ing, de·fies 1. a. To oppose or resist with boldness and assurance: defied the blockade by sailing straight through it. b. state law by bringing in cigarettes from neighboring states is consistent with what we have seen in other regions of the country," said Doug Henken, executive director of the Washington State Association of Neighborhood Stores. Prior to the July tax increase, Michigan was the highest taxed state for cigarettes at $7.50 per carton. A major investigation there showed that in the year since Michigan raised its tax, cigarettes have flooded over the border and numerous organized crime groups and illegal distribution networks have formed. The study also found that one in five consumers are participating, often without their knowledge, in a market that has become corrupted cor·rupt adj. 1. Marked by immorality and perversion; depraved. 2. Venal; dishonest: a corrupt mayor. 3. by increasingly sophisticated criminal organizations. Michigan will lose $144 million this year to cigarette smuggling, and 10 percent of the state's convenience stores The following is a list of convenience stores organized by geographical location. Stores are grouped by the lowest heading that contains all locales in which the brands have significant presence. would go out of business, the investigation found. "We are concerned that we are repeating the Michigan experience here," Henken said. "When Washington state's cigarette tax rose in July, it set in motion a well-documented economic phenomenon: demand creates supply. "Put another way, imposing high taxes on cigarettes is like trying to squeeze a balloon -- the air will bulge out Verb 1. bulge out - bulge outward; "His eyes popped" pop, bug out, pop out, protrude, bulge, come out, start change form, change shape, deform - assume a different shape or form somewhere else, in this case in Idaho and Montana, at the expense of Washington, its business community and taxpayers." -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: Revenue Department sales chart available upon request. CONTACT: Doug Henken, 360/753-5177 800/732-1889 |
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