How much do cigarettes cost per pack where everyone lives?

On June 3, 2008, NY State is once again raising the tax on cigarettes to $2.75 per pack. Add that to the NY City tax of $1.50 and that will be $4.25 in taxes alone.

That will bring retail prices up over $9.00 a pack in many stores (the retail prices vary widely now where in past years they were similar).

So, how much does a pack cost where you live?

Are they still cheap in states like Virginia or other Southern states?

(Please spare the comments about smoking is bad for your health. We all know that)

like 4 bucks a pack in texas. Looks like its time to quit smoking.

$3 and some change retail. Cigarette machines at bars = $5. And I use the coupons that Marlboro and Camel send me all the time for BOGO or $1 off.

$5.50 here in San Francisco.
Just over $6 in Seattle.

$6-$7 a pack here in MD, but a short drive down to Va and they are much cheaper as well as the gas the more south you go.

I think the major brands are just a little under $5 here in the Portland metro area. Looks like taxes account for about $1.18 per pack:
This might help

Marlboros are about $4.50-$5.00 here in Texas. The state put an extra $1 tax on them last year. Bastids.

Charge $50 a pack I say and plough all the extra cash back into hospitals. If anyone is dumb enough to continue paying that for em.

Circa $3 here yesterday for Camel Wide Lights - Guy who was helping me with my patio asked me to get him a pack and those and 3 $1 Sodas came to $6.06 inc. Tax

I believe you can get a carton of Marlboros here in Northern Virginia for about $31. A single pack will run you about $4.25 at 7-Eleven.

Head out of NoVA and it goes down a little bit.

Virginia's state tax is now 30 cents a pack (2 years ago it was 2 cents).

You think they might be less than $31 a carton a little further south of you?

That's a good price. Can you bring suitcases on Amtrak without them being checked?

I don't smoke, but I think we are pushing about $6.00 a pack here in Pittsburgh.

$3.30 a pack from the Poospatuck Indians on Long Island.

Holy Shit!!!!

What street is their store located? Also... Is there a limit on the amount of cartons I can buy?

Try this site.
http://www.eurocheapcigarettes.com/marlboro.html
$20 a carton with shipping. just have to wait for them to ship from Europe

I don't think I can do it.

The Dictator of New York, Mayor Bloomberg, goes after people who buy cigarettes over the internet. Don't know exactly how he catches people, but he has a unit of the city's finance department dedicated to doing just that.

Well...two problems with that...

1. Don't get caught. (Here in Virginia, you can be fined $500 per PACK.)

2. Those don't use American tobacco. Not a big deal to some, but others view anything else as an extremely weak substitute for American tobacco.

(On a side note...it might be a good idea if that site worked on it's English. Nothing says "fly-by-night" like bad English.

As far as I know, if it's got a tax stamp on it from any state, you are in the clear anywhere else. At least that's how Virginia's law is written - simple posession of non-stamped cigarettes is illegal. But if it has a stamp from another state...it's legal here.

There is a limit to how much cigarettes an individual can transport over state lines.

dang. worth a try. i did once, now i know not to do it again

if you guys know any military people they can get them at their base's exchange sans any tax

About $28-29 for a carton of cowboy killers here.

I used to turn a tidy profit back in the day (early 90s). Buy a carton for $13-14 at the PX and stuff one carton for me, and an extra in my pack. Most of the other Marines would just bring a half carton or so and end up running out after a week. When you are in the field and desperate, people will pay quite a bit for them. I actually had 5 guys demand that I auction off my last pack for sale.. made $20 on one pack


oh and really, you should quit

is it illegal to UPS/Fedex cartons? why not just go down to VA, buy a bunch and ship them home? i dont smoke, so i dont know how it works. i know the few times ive been over in europe, they say to buy them here and take them with you. my not just stuff a suit case with them and ship them home with some clothes.

my understanding, this was explained to me. There are laws relating to tobacco only. don't ask why. but taxes need to be paid on tobacco in the state where you are presently. So if u purchase in VA. taxes for VA are already paid for. But if u bring tobacco into another state such as NY, taxes on tobacco in NY have not been paid........ This does not make any sense whatsoever. You bought a product, and should not matter where from.

I don't know about other states, but here in Virginia, as long as that pack has a stamp, be it Virginia or any other state, you are in the clear. Only unstamped cigarettes will get you in trouble.

Of course, since Virginia's tax is so low, I don't think they are too concerned about it...nobody is going to go out of state to buy cigarettes.

That being said, if you buy them over the internet, you are required to fill out a Consumer Cigarette Tax Return and pay the Virginia tax (1.5 cents per cigarette).

I might be wrong, a trucker explained this to me a while back

Yeah, many people here buy them from the Indian Reservations because they don't have to charge the same taxes. It is either tax free or really low taxes. I don't know the specifics, as I don't smoke. However, if I did smoke, I'd only buy them on the "res".

Weak as in inferior? Is there actually any tobacco in american tobacco anymore? I much prefer Marlboros made outside the US than the shit we get here now.

Some Americans use tobacco from other countries, and some foreign tobacco companies use U.S. tobacco. Israeli military and prison cigs come from Virginia as an example

I can get you cartons of Sumers for like $3. Don't worry, they're healthy as cigarettes go - made in Iraq, so you know they are good. What's a little fiberglass and camel dung?

$4 and some change in Akron/Cleveland. Lately, they've had buy 2 get 1 on Camels. Although they charge full price so it's like $9.00 for three. Plus with the no smoking indoors law, that kind of saves too.

Don't buy in SC then, our cigarettes are unstamped.....

Plus they are $3.15 a pack for the good stuff, $2.75 if you can smoke the generics.

I'm surprised that this thread is smoker friendly unlike a lot of bars.... (those bars go out of business around here.)

I also didn't realize a lot of you smoked

On a different but somewhat related note... SC's home of the lowest cigarette tax in the nation... a staggering $0.07.

Now there's legislation on the table right to increase it by $0.50 and that's creating quite a stir in these parts. By the looks of things it'll pass too.

If you get caught transporting a lot of cigarettes into NY from another state.... even if the cigs have that other state's tax stamp.... you are going to be in trouble.

If it's only a couple of cartons, that is fine. If you have a trunkload or 30 cartons or something like that, you will be charged with a crime.

Here is a bit of cigarette tax stamp trivia:

A number of years ago you used to be able to drive down New Jersey's Garden State Parkway without having to pay any tolls... as long as you had a pack of cigarettes with a NJ State tax stamp.

How it worked was.... you pulled into the automated toll booths with the coin collection baskets. Instead of throwing the coins into the basket, hold the pack of cigarettes up to the windshield with the tax stamp facing out. The toll light would turn green as if collected - similar to EZ PASS - and you would proceed on your way.

I haven't tried it in a number of years, so I don't know if it still works.

AZ is pushing $5 per pack on Marlboros, but you can still go to the reservation stores and get a carton for about $38. The state taxes aren't applicable there.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Florida's cigarette taxes.

33.9 cents per pack of twenty, which = 1.695 cents per pack.

A law was passed uphere recently where stores are not allowed to display tobacco of any kind. a pack (I think) is about $6.70 You are not allowed to smoke anywhere.

Never been a smoker (besides the 30lbs of pot in College) My parents were both 2 packs a day smokers. My mother died after a 6 year battle with lung cancer due to Smoking at the age of 56.

Funny how socially unacceptable it has become. I was fishing this weekend with 10 other guys ONE smoker in the midst and he was almost outsted trying to light up in the boat....

Just checked at 7-Eleven.

Here's some comparisons in Virginia (these are in *addition* to the $3.00 state tax):

For 1 carton:

Alexandria: $7 tax (a carton runs $34 at the 7-eleven)
Manassas: $5 tax
Fairfax County: $3 tax
Warrenton: $1.50 tax

So theoretically, you should be able to buy a carton in Warrenton for under $29.

Our NIMBY Mayor in San Francisco is banning retail drug stores from selling cigarettes.

"This will be the beginning of a nationa... effect Oct. 1.

What, you aren't happy with your commie mayor?

For some reason drug stores around here sell cigarettes cheaper than most retail outlets like deli's, candy stores, and 7-Eleven.

There is a Walgreens that sells Marlboros for $6.58 a pack. That is the absolute cheapest you can get them legally around here. Most stores are anywhere from $7.35 to $7.75 a pack.

Of course that will be increased sharply after June 3 to over $9.00 a pack or more in most stores.

Just last year they were $5/pack at the convenience store in the basement of Rockefeller Center. The co-worker I was with that was buying them was shocked that they were that cheap.

In BC? Or all of Canada?

That Shell gas station where I was getting my morning chocolate milk in Etobicoke the last five days had plenty of tobacco on display behind the clerk . . .

Most smokes cost upwards of $9.50 in Ontario Canada.

They have laws out the wazoo on smokes up here. Can't smoke in public places of any kind, can't smoke at bus stops, even if they are outdoors, can't smoke on a patio if it is covered etc.

They also have the no display law as well. You can't display cigarettes behind the counter, they must either be hidden from view, as in under the counter, or in a closed cabinet so that the packages are not visable to the consumer.

They have this wierd idea that the color of the package insights kids to purchase certain cigarette brands due to the packaging.

Most of the people that I know who smoke, smoke what are called "Native" cigarettes nowadays.

When a carton of smokes costs you upwards of $65, and the Native ones (made on the Reserves, no taxes paid etc etc) only cost you $15 for 200 smokes, it's just too good a deal to pass up.

They aren't name brand smokes sold on the reserve, they are actually cigarettes that are made on the reserve, and then smuggled into Canada through various means. It's pretty big business for those who are bold enough to do it. They pay $10 per 200 smokes, and then sell them for $15 or $20 here.

I wish cigs were more expensive here. It would help me quit altogether. Granted, I only buy like a pack a week. But still.

Then I wonder what it was I was seeing?

I thought I recognized "Players" cigarettes . . .

Canada, I bet the long arm of the law will get him eventually. What the hell were you doing in Etobicoke????...armpit of the earth

Stuff . . .

Smoker Friendly, Nederland, CO - Camel Lights - $3.90 per pack, $31.90 per carton.

Taxing smokes for other uses is funny to me. Politicians say it will help some quit, but use the money for schools, roads, whatever. If everybody quits, how will we continue to fund these programs?

I also like the smoker-haters, they tend to be really crazy. Some of the comments I have read from these people are out there.

I have a buddy, Kip, who quit cold turkey when his doc told him he wouldn't see his son graduate if he didn't. His wife kept putting the money from his one to two pack a day habit into a hidden savings account and after two years, she bought him a brand new Polaris 500 H.O. ATV. They don't have a lot of money (he drives an old Chevy truck with 223,000 miles on it) and to say that he was "shocked" that he would have smoked that away was an understatement, to say the least.

just saw a sales ad in the paper yesterday.....down in clearbrook VA, there is a place where most of the big name cigs are less then $30 a carton.

Everyone know smoking is bad, but if it's your choice to do it, then fine it's your body your life. Smoke it away. Just don't like the whole tobacco advertising to kids.....

This was a billboard ad in the move Idiocracy....

If you don't smoke Tarryltons... Fuck You!

awesome movie... oww my balls!

I roll my own and have been doing so for 10 years. The cost is $0.70 per pack. They are better and burn way longer than a Marlboro. They look perfect.
I never wake up and say "Shit, I'm out of smokes".

Awesome? More like sadly prophetic. The first 5 minutes or so of that movie say a lot about what's happening in America today.

Anyway, I don't care if anyone smokes...as long as they're not near me. I support bans on smoking in public, but efforts to ban it outright or in people's homes, while logical, seem like a reach.

What amuses me is what I discovered about irrational fear during my airline career.

U.S. smoking-related deaths per year: over 350,000
U.S. airline accident deaths yearly: approximately 120 (none in 2007)

People who smoke like chimneys: many. People terrified to fly: many more. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Actually, it does....

1. They aren't in control on the airplane.

2. A death by plane crash *looks* more horrific than death by cancer. (Even though (at least for me) most would rather die the quick death in a plane crash than a long drawn out one of cancer.)

X2. turbulence on take off and landing still kinda freaks me out. an individual might not realize the consequences of his or her actions until its too late, when it comes to smoking

Sorry, not buying it. The hazards of smoking are so well known that no one can say, "Oh, I didn't realize smoking was so bad for you."

You guys should have been around during my father's last hours. If you saw what cancer does to people before they die, you might never smoke again. Same for emphysema. Horrific diseases and both KNOWN to be caused by tobacco use.

As for the 'not in control' when flying argument, that's true, but the people who ARE in control are highly-trained professionals who don't want to die any more than you do. Your odds of going a lifetime as a frequent flier without getting so much as a scratch are clearly far better than the odds of living a long, healthy life while sucking cancer sticks.

Smokers stink - literally. If you're a smoker and you think otherwise, it's because you're used to the stench. I know this because both my parents smoked and it was only after I moved out that the realization hit me that they and their home reeked. To their credit, they both ultimately quit.

It's also BS that in an 8-hour workday smokers are taking 4 or 5 extra breaks of 10-15 minutes each. That's at least an hour a day so figure half a workday a week outside puffing while others pick up the slack. Utter horses**t.

And ever notice that women may be shown in ads or movies holding cigarettes but are rarely shown taking a drag? That's because the ugliest woman in the world is one with a cigarette in her mouth.

I mean no offense, and I understand it's not just an easy choice to quit, but that's the hard truth, at least from where I sit.

well the state of maryland just placed a smoking ban on all restaurants and bars. they thought it would hurt the business, but its actually made it better IMO. its so nice to be able to go in and have a few drinks and when you go to leave, you dont smell like smoke. but when someone does go outside to smoke and then comes back in, when they walk past it makes you cough because they reek of smoke. one of the reasons i got rid of my ex, she started smoking.

But you've hit the nail on the head right there - most people haven't been in that situation - including smokers.

I saw what it did to my oldest friend's mom. But it doesn't matter how much I tell people about it - they weren't there.

You can tell people how horrific war is...but unless you've been there...you have no idea.

Definitely a valid point.

Of course, there is that Google thing...

You're right though, the difficulty of learning through others' experience is a shortcoming we all share.

Yeah, I know how dangerous smoking is. Yet I still do it. Paint me a fucking idiot.

That aside, banning smoking and all that is the chic thing to do right now, just like the whole gay marriage thing was a couple of years ago. Want to ban smoking in government buildings? I got no problems with that. Want to ban them in private businesses? That should be left up to the owners. Period.

There have been numerous articles here about smoking bans hurting business around here. Sure, it's great for non-smokers, but the owners are losing money, and they don't like it (and rightly so). The thing is, you can't even open up a smoker's bar (cigar bar) here anymore. What's next, you can't open up a bar that allows people to drink?

Crucify smokers all you want. What's a joke is DUI's and how we treat them in this country. Talk about a person dying at the hands of another.

Tennessee passed a non smoking law recently. You can be a smoking establishment if your 18 and older only. A bar near my work did that and hasn't seen any loss in business. BW3s on UT campus banned smoking and it has hurt them. In response they are building an outdoor bar on the patio to tend to smokers. They'll still see some loss but not as much.

I smoke, and will quit at some point but right now I'm not ready. $10 a pack? I'd quit for sure!

You're absolutely right about DUIs. If some long prison terms were handed out it might make people think twice.

As for smokers, I don't want to crucify them, I just don't want them smoking around me. Fair enough?

BTW, what do you guys think about employers refusing to hire tobacco users? Supposedly one of the suburban governments here in Atlanta is planning to adopt such a policy. I'm all for it, but it's arguable that obesity also causes increased health costs, etc. so what about that?

We got that impression too. Lot's of people that should be breeding, aren't. Lot's of people that REALLY shouldn't be breeding, are. Still, the movie was funny!

It's just another form of discrimination. It opens a whole can of worms. Soon it will be people that drink, people with diabetes, people with arthritis...once it starts it won't stop until we get to the whole Demolition Man dystopia.

More like Gattaca with its genetic screening for suitable jobs. Demo Man was more about social order & censorship.

Isn't it only valid to call it discrimination when the characteristic is involuntary? For example, people can't choose their gender or race but they can choose whether or not to smoke.

the reason for companies to not want to hire smokers is quite easy, it costs the company more on health insurance to cover a smoker than a non-smoker. thus they choose not to do it.

Nope.

Guess you missed my whole post, huh?

I think the most obvious example that fits your theory is obesity. Doesn't seem like as great as risk as smoking but it's arguably at least in similar territory for long-term health implications.

Still, I favor tobacco-free environments simply because it's far more pleasant and more fair (see my earlier post ref smoke breaks). Plus I tend to agree about taxing the s**t out of cigarettes with proceeds going to cancer research or something similar. (Don't worry, no risk to virtual smoking. )

they really oughta show this one on TV
you dont always die from tobacco

Agreed regarding the obesity. Cigarettes are taxed out the ass already.
As far as the "extra" breaks, I got that line a lot when working in restaurants from the few people who didn't smoke. My advice to them was simple, take the same number of breaks as the smokers (if you get flak about it from the boss, explain it calmly) otherwise shut it. Seemed to work out ok as most people can see that it's the same.

Try it. I've had others try it and it worked out just fine (yeah, in the corporate world too). I wouldn't be shocked at how much I spend as this ain't my first "smokers are evil" thread

Mike Judge is a nice guy.

But he cut my scene. Fucker.

Forgive me if I postpone testing this theory. On my current 5-person shift, the only 2 smokers are the supervisor and senior officer (also technically a supervisor).

Smokers aren't evil, other than the arrogant "I'll smoke wherever I damn well please and if that's two feet from your dinner table, too bad" types. Smoking is evil. Those who made billions of dollars while people died horrible deaths from smoking-related diseases the tobacco companies knew about and refused to acknowledge are evil. And so on. Don't take anything I say personally. My take on smoking is accurate - it has horrific effects and people, clothes, homes, and vehicles reek because of it - but having never smoked, it's easier for me to be objective. And never having had an addiction, I can only imagine how frustrating it is to want to quit and not be able to.

Since it fits the thread, let me share a story. The first airline I worked for was by coincidence the nation's first non-smoking airline, Muse Air. It flew from 1980-85, at which point Southwest bought it. Southwest's leader is a big smoker so the non-smoking policy went out the window.

One of our mechanics told me they were puzzled at first when butterfly-type air return valves in the aircraft a/c systems started sticking closed. Investigation revealed a thick brownish gunk on the valves - yep, from the newly-permitted smoking on board. Know what it took to clean smoking's byproducts off the valves?

Carburetor cleaner.

Well, for starters, if it is illegal for employers to discriminate against sexual deviants who have AIDS or could very easily contract AIDS, it should also be illegal to discriminate against smokers.

Both are behaviors that could have adverse health effects.

What's next, discrimination against people who eat too many foods with trans-fatty acids? Discrimination against fat people who don't exercise or watch their diets?

Tobacco is a legal product of which government makes tons and tons of money off of taxes. It is hypocritical for government to allow discrimination against smokers when other forms of human behavior are protected and could be potentially even more hazardous to health.

Is health insurance now to be used as a weapon to limit people's freedoms? If that is the case, then their is no end to those limits on freedom.

This was also supposed to be a thread about cigarette prices. Not hijacked with your personal thoughts about smoking.

Booze is legal too, but companies don't allow it in the workplace, and they don't allow employees to take regular breaks to drink up. I wonder if they could get away with a "no cigarettes, cigars, or pipes in the workplace" policy?

You could argue that smoking doesn't affect the performance of your job, but from what I'm reading in this thread and from my own experience years ago working in a cubicle environment when you could still smoke in them, smoking did indeed affect my performance on the job. It stank, it made me stink, and I had to face customers, etc...

The discrimination against smokers is not about smoking on the job or taking breaks to smoke.

Some employers are moving toward hiring only non-smokers. Meaning anyone who smokes at home and on their own time cannot be hired. There was even a major lawsuit regarding this issue. The employer required a medical exam and blood test to determine new hires were non-smokers.

I understand the employer wants to save costs and all...but wouldn't that be a major invasion of privacy?

By the way...for all you smokers - don't get stuck in Indianapolis if you are travelling. Starting in June, smoking is prohibited on ALL airport grounds unless you are in your car.

Its been a while but I definitely remember seeing that cowboy commercial on tv here in Texas. I really even think they showed it in movie theaters before the movie back when they had started to make you sit through commercials before the previews.

I have a thicker skin than that I don't anything anyone says on the interweb personally...life's too short. As far as smokers that will smoke anywhere...I'm not one of them. In fact, I'm one of the most considerate smokers I've met. If there are non-smokers around, I ask if they mind. I even had a non-smoking friend who told me it was OK to smoke in his car, but I never did because I didn't feel it was right. I know it's bad for my health and I try my damndest not to inflict it upon others.

I salute your consideration of others.

Now, since staying on topic is apparently extremely important to certain XOC members, let me address cigarette prices here in Georgia.

They're quite expensive.