TOBACCO TAX ON POOR

Ana Marengo of the American Cancer Society says that because of New York
State's increase in the cigarette tax, cigarette sales in the state will
drop by 7 percent (news analysis, Dec. 18). As a result, she says, the
decline in cigarette use will be twice as large among the poor. But this
means that poor people who smoke will have an increased tax burden. At 55
cents a pack, a person smoking a pack a day will pay more than $200 a year
in additional taxes.

New York State has reduced income and property taxes and eliminated the New
York City commuter tax -- cuts that greatly benefit middle-class
suburbanites like me. I smoke a carton a week, but the additional taxes I
pay for cigarettes are more than offset by these tax reductions.

Of course, I can avoid the tax increase completely by driving 15 minutes to
Connecticut and buying my cigarettes there.