Politics & Government

POLL: How Will the State's Cigarette Tax Hike Affect You?

The cost to buy a pack of cigarettes goes up in Illinois as a new tax increase on cigarettes goes into effect. Will this change your habits? Tell us what you think.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The cheap ones, that is.

Starting Sunday, June 24, the price of a pack of cigarettes increases as the state tax more than doubles on them, thanks to a measure recently signed by Gov. Pat Quinn. The tax increase, which goes from the long-standing 98 cents a pack to $1.98, will create an estimated $350 million in revenue and hopefully force some state residents to quit the habit, the Chicago Tribune reports

Read the full Chicago Tribune for more details about the cigarette tax increase.

Find out what's happening in Lemontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But this could force state residents to buy their smokes from neighboring states and drop overall cigarette sales by about 20 percent, the Tribune report stated.

Find out what's happening in Lemontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Because of the lower tobacco tax rate in Will County, outlets there that sell cigarettes could see more Cook County customers crossing the borders to save money.

YOUR TURN! Are you a smoker? What do you think of the tax increase? Will you cut back on your cigarettes? Or will you find cheaper places out of state to buy them? Take our polls and share your thoughts in our comments section.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here