Jun 11, 2002 2 min read

If Gov. Mark Schweiker were to announce today that an emergency drought warning is in place across the state and that all Pennsylvanians need to cease taking 15 minute showers, washing their cars and topping off swimming pools, people would pay him hardly any mind. But if the governor would announce, as he did last week, that he wants to raise the cigarette tax to a buck a pack, boy oh boy would people start talking, and not just smokers. Here’s a snippet that peppered many conversations overheard since Schweiker dropped the news on Thursday that he wants to increase the tax another 69 cents a pack: “Didja hear a pack of cigarettes is now $5?”

Well, no a pack isn’t $5. They haven’t gone up yet, and they might not go as high as Schweiker wants. Lawmakers will hash this one out in a backroom, that we aren’t sure is still smoke-filled as the clich’ goes.

The governor claims the steep hike will make smoking such a costly endeavor that youth will be priced out of the market; therefore, the rate of new teen smokers will plummet and eventually the state can fulfill its goal of reducing the number of new smokers.

That’s all well and good, especially since Pennsylvania has done a poor job of preventing the so-called replacement smokers to keep the tobacco companies afloat when older smokers die off from tobacco-related deaths. Each year 38,000 Pennsylvania kids become addicted, daily smokers and any measure to cut that number is worth pursuing.

However, don’t for one minute believe that is the only reason the governor is proposing to increase so dramatically the cigarette tax. Faced with a $1.2 billion budget shortfall, it’s an easy quick fix that could wipe out about half that deficit without too many protests. Addicts might grumble about the cost, but they will pay whatever the price or find a way to buy online or cross state lines to keep the supply coming.