Tobacco Sales in Iowa Fall

Source from:  midiowanews.com By: Tribune Staff 03/31/2008 04/01/2008

Cigarette sales in Iowa are down 36 percent from a year ago, when Iowa lawmakers passed a $1 per pack increase in the sales tax. Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said the state Tobacco Use, Prevention and Control Commission reviewed the numbers Friday. In 2006, Iowa businesses sold 5 billion cigarettes. In 2007, that number had dropped to 3.8 billion. For the 12 months from March 2007 to March 2008, the number was 3.02 billion. The $1-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax was signed in March 2007 by Gov. Chet Culver and went into effect almost immediately. The tax is now $1.36 per pack. "Are some coming across state lines?" Quirmbach asked. "Sure, they are." But despite long-standing opposition, lawmakers "did the right thing," Quirmbach said. Quirmbach credited Culver for the results, saying that his insistence on a whole dollar increase carried the legislation. Quirmbach sits on the state tobacco commission along with Dr. David Carlyle of Ames, who is its chairman. Enditem