# Seventy-five dollars a carton? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807 "2006-07-17T03:17:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/41 "2006-07-18T12:28:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bambi Hassenpfeffer] Around here, anywhere from $11.99 for a carton of Westports to $34.39 for a carton of Benson and Hedges, plus local sales tax of 6 - 7%. The other two price points are (I think) $21.99 and $27.29. Yes, I do work somewhere that sells them; why do you ask? [/QUOTE] Dang! My B&Hs cost me $45.00/ctn. That’s including tax. I’m outside Cook County in Illinois. Cook County recently imposed a gigantic tax. And then won’t even let you smoke 'em in restaurants in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/42 "2006-07-18T16:28:51Z")
I pay an average of 3.50 a pack, sometimes more depending on where I am. I smoke about a half pack a day, so I figure my monthly cost for smoking is about 55-60. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/43 "2006-07-18T16:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Dang! My B&Hs cost me $45.00/ctn. That’s including tax. I’m outside Cook County in Illinois. Cook County recently imposed a gigantic tax. And then won’t even let you smoke 'em in restaurants in Chicago. [/QUOTE] A bit under $40 for Marlboro Box in Lake County - including tax. Let me know if you want me to pick up a carton for ya. 😉 Actual anecdote - my stepson and his friend from Minnesota came down to visit over the weekend. The conversation: SS - M2U, where in the hell do you buy smokes around here? I just spent $12 for TWO PACKS. M2U - Where’d you get 'em? SS - Shell M2U - That was cheap. They’re usually around $13 for two at gas stations like that. Cheaper at the Speedway, of course. SS - WHAT??? M2U - Yep. Cook County just increased the tax again - now we’re at about $6+ per pack. You should’ve gone up Rand to Puff N Stuff. 3 Packs for $11. and it’s less than a mile away. SS - NOW YOU TELL ME??? M2U - Well, how was I supposed to know you needed cigarettes? My step son loves me.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Blanche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Blanche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blanche)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/44 "2006-07-18T17:40:58Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] I’d love to see the stats for this, too. Price wasn’t _the_ reason I quit (it didn’t even make me cut down), but it was one of many. [/QUOTE] My sister and brother-in-law both quit when cigarettes hit $2 a pack. My mom kept smoking until she was hospitalized for a month for smoking related illnesses, then started again after the apartments she managed had a large fire. She quit again when it put her back in the hospital, and hasn’t smoked since. ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/45 "2006-07-18T18:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] Andy Rooney said tonight on 60 minutes that the carton of Marlboros on his desk cost them $75.00. In New York City, I assume. I’m an ex-smoker. I have little sympathy for smokers, and I’d like to see them all quit. Tomorrow. Sorry, North Carolina, Kentucky, etal. But I see cartons in supermarkets for $45.00 or less. Discounters sell them for considerably less. These are “brand name” smokes, not the cut rate kind. Anyway, my actual question is, do cigarettes actually cost $75.00/carton in NYC? That’s $7.50/pack. $250.00 per month for the pack-a-day smoker. How much do they cost where you live? I think this question should be answered only by smokers. I’ve found that non-smokers exaggerate (lie big time) about this subject. 😉 Also, this thread is about the direct dollar per carton cost of cigarettes, nothing else. Save the “harm” crap for another thread, please. Peace, mangeorge [/QUOTE] Yes. They do. They’re that expensive throughout most of the state, and in Rhode Island, they’re worse. Here in Nevada, they range from $25 - $40 a carton. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/46 "2006-07-18T18:34:07Z")
As good a place as any to mention – keep in mind that the [most ridiculously easy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402718616/sr=8-1/qid=1153247361/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2948277-8935060?ie=UTF8) method of quitting costs the same as 2-4 packs of smokes. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/47 "2006-07-19T01:00:21Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] As good a place as any to mention – keep in mind that the [most ridiculously easy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402718616/sr=8-1/qid=1153247361/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2948277-8935060?ie=UTF8) method of quitting costs the same as 2-4 packs of smokes. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen millions (well, dozens) of those foolproof systems. What makes this one different? And, have you used it? We can talk now. We’re in IMHO. Thanks, **xash** , who hates me. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/48 "2006-07-19T01:25:08Z")
[QUOTE=Renee] So, could a person in NYC purchase cigs by mail from somewhere cheaper? You would save a ton of money. [/QUOTE] NYC has pursued civil RICO claims against a number of online tobacco vendors who sell cigarettes at a discount. The problem, according to the city, is that the purchasers aren’t charged the appropriate taxes for the sales, and the city loses revenue as a result. IIRC, all of the suits in federal court have been dismissed for pleading deficiencies. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/49 "2006-07-19T01:49:37Z")
[QUOTE=ladybug] NYC has pursued civil RICO claims against a number of online tobacco vendors who sell cigarettes at a discount. The problem, according to the city, is that the purchasers aren’t charged the appropriate taxes for the sales, and the city loses revenue as a result. IIRC, all of the suits in federal court have been dismissed for pleading deficiencies. [/QUOTE] RICO? I bet RFK is a tumbling. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/50 "2006-07-19T02:31:27Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] I’ve seen millions (well, dozens) of those foolproof systems. What makes this one different? And, have you used it? [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t call it a “system” so much as a change in perception. I read the book and thought “Huh…never looked at it that way before”. A few days later it occurred to me that I hadn’t had a smoke since I finished the book, and I wasn’t dying for one either. Haven’t had one since. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/51 "2006-07-19T02:37:07Z")
A carton here (of Kools) is $31.49. If I buy 10 packs by the pack, it is $36.50. Cigarette prices going up don’t affect my smoking at all. I cut back somewhere else. (With the new law here, I’ve cut back on restaurants and bars.) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/52 "2006-07-19T11:32:52Z")
[QUOTE=Missy2U] A bit under $40 for Marlboro Box in Lake County - including tax. Let me know if you want me to pick up a carton for ya. 😉 [/QUOTE] I’m in McHenry County. I’ve got three Cheapo joints within a mile of the house. Phew! I still pay top dollah for my brand, though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807/53 "2006-07-19T12:01:46Z")
Marlboros in Bahrain (next to Saudi Arabia) retail for about US$15 per carton! Mind you, petrol is also only 26c per litre (about US$1 per gallon). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-five-dollars-a-carton/364807.md?page=2)