On February 27th, House Democrats passed HB680, a bill which would expand New Hampshire’s tobacco tax to include all vaping, e-cigarette, and hookah devices. Currently, that tax stands at 65% of the sale price. This means that if this bill passes into law, a $10 vape device would cost you $16.50. The bill was supported by 94% of House Democrats. 95% of House Republicans voted to kill the bill.
Interestingly, the authors of the bill make it abundantly clear that they understand that vaping and similar practices are often utilized to wean people off of smoking cigarettes - which is the most dangerous behavior that a human could engage in. The bill specifically states that “Any device that may be used to deliver any aerosolized or vaporized substance whether or not the substance contains nicotine, to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, hookah, e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, vape pen, or e-hookah...” would be subject to the new massive tax.
According to the United States Center for Disease Control, smoking cigarettes is the leading cause of preventable death in the world, causing more than 7 million deaths annually. According to a study conducted by the British government that measured the effectiveness of e-cigarettes versus traditional methods of quitting smoking, e-cigarettes were twice as effective in helping smokers quit their nicotine addiction.
An unintended consequence of this bill may be the increase in online purchases of e-cigarettes from New Hampshire residents, in order to avoid paying the massive new tax. Naturally, this would hurt local vape shops. On second thought, maybe this consequence would be intentional. Democrats consistently oppose prosperity and free markets.
Surely, millions of Americans are utilizing the new vaping technologies to wean themselves off of their dangerous addiction to cigarettes. If this bill passes the Senate and is signed by the Governor, Granite Staters who smoke will be much less likely to spend 65% more money on these devices. Given the close link between smoking and poverty, why would New Hampshire Democrats vote to make it so much more expensive for poor smokers to quit?
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