Cutting tobacco tax wrong on two fronts

An update of my $10 bet with Sen. Gary Lambert, R-Nashua, regarding the cigarette tax.
I was troubled by the Republicans in our state lowering the cigarette tax, claiming it would increase revenue by getting more people to come here for cigarettes.
New Hampshire already had the lowest cigarette tax in New England; to lower it seemed, to me, foolhardy. I believed this would cost the state needed revenue and encourage people to smoke.
When I couldn’t get Lambert to agree, I bet him $10 this would be the case, which it is. New Hampshire has lost $6 million.
I found out that Gary is a stand-up guy. When I saw him at the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce breakfast this month, he came up to me and paid that $10.
I continue to disagree with Gary on issues, but he is willing to admit when he is wrong. That’s a classy guy, and I’m sorry to see him leave the Senate.
In Time magazine’s medical section, a report said the most effective tactic to get people to quit smoking is tax increases. Lowering a tax on cigarettes seems crazy.
Think about this quote by N.R. Kleinfield and substitute cancer for disease: “There is an underappreciated truth about disease (cancer): it will harm you even if you never get it. Disease (cancer) reverberates outward, and if the illness gets big enough, it brushes everyone.”