March 23, 2005
Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- 'Smokers say planned tax increase is a drag'
"States with high cigarette taxes have a correspondingly high percentage of people who avoid the taxes by buying their smokes on the black market, in other states or on Indian reservations, according to a study by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation. In 1997, more than 33 percent of total taxable cigarette sales were lost to such activity in Washington, according to the Tax Foundation. Only New York, Hawaii and the District of Columbia lost more sales from people trying to dodge cigarette taxes."
