Uh, nonsmoking please. It seems to echo in every restaurant these days. And why shouldn't it? The public shouldn't be subjected to secondhand smoke against its own will, but smokers still should be allowed to light up if they choose.
But recent legislation proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to deter young Michiganians from smoking isn't feasible.
The proposal fails to address that teenage smokers are buying cigarettes with a disposable income and that there are many alternative ways smokers can buy their butts.
Granholm said she plans to propose raising Michigan's cigarette tax from $1.25 to $2 per pack. It's an attempt to raise an estimated $295 million to help eradicate the state's $1.3 billion budget deficit, she said.
Supposedly, the tax would increase state revenue while also acting as a deterrent for kids to avoid picking up the habit.
Curbing youth from smoking is important, but the proposed legislation forgets to mention the fact that many smokers are using alternative ways to buy their fix. Other states and overseas markets are going to benefit from this legislation that turns smokers away from buying cigarettes in Michigan.
Teenagers don't have to make house or car payments, their income is chump-change they get from their parents. They don't care how much it costs - they're not paying for it.
And adult smokers can hop on the Internet and buy cheap smokes from Europe; they can drive across borders and pick up some lights from Indiana or Ohio, not to mention the wonderful duty-free shops that line the Canadian-Michigan border.
That $295 million starts to deflate when all the alternative means of buying a pack are considered.
And why another tax increase so soon? In August of 2002, the tax per pack increased from 75 cents to $1.25.
Raising tax on cigarettes is another way to create state revenue to help curb the astounding budget deficit, but this legislation isn't designed to stop kids from smoking. It's another way to collect taxes - and it sounds like it might fail miserably at doing that.
Trying to deter kids from smoking is an honorable goal, but the proposed legislation has holes that fail to make fiscal sense.
