Letter: Light up to boost state tax revenue

Wednesday, July 30, 2003 | 8:39 a.m.

I spotted this headline in the July 24 Las Vegas Sun: "Tax hike expected to cut teen smoking." The article said the state's new tax adds 45 cents to the price of a pack of cigarettes and that because of the hike there will be an estimated 16,000 fewer teen smokers in Nevada, either because they will quit or won't start.

Why are we discouraging teens from smoking? If all 16,000 of those teens had a three-pack-a-day habit, that would mean more than $7,826,400 in taxes per year for our children's education. I think it's selfish of them not to smoke.

As for not being able to afford the cigarettes because of the tax, these 16,000 teens should use the money they would otherwise spend at fast-food restaurants and solve the child obesity problem at the same time. Win! Win!

DAN ORMSBY

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