A protester smokes during a rally held against a recent proposal to raise the tobacco tax on cigarettes by 50 percent at Hong Kong's government headquarters Sunday. Arizona's new tobacco tax is being raised almost 70%. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Smokers around Arizona are blazing mad over high tobacco taxes.
Arizona Department of Revenue agents say that because the cigarette tax has leaped from 39 cents to a $1.01 a pack, smokers are likely to go elsewhere to buy their smokes.
And some will likely bring cigarettes back to the state and resell them to friends with the state losing out.
Revenue Agent Jack Doyle told a state Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention Program committee in January that black market tobacco products coming in from Mexico, Indian reservations and states with lower or no taxes on cigarettes take money from the state. A carton of cigarettes in Mexico can go for as low as $7 a carton.
Taxes on tabacco are being raised not only over the U.S. but also internationally. Last month China also raised tobacco taxes 50%.
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