I Can't Breathe

Michael Ramirez ~ Investor's Business Daily

Eric Garner's death was a needless tragedy. NYC levies the highest excise taxes on cigarettes in the country, $5.85 on each pack, and then uses its police force to enforce the unlawful sale of tobacco.

Furthermore, the same week NYC's mayor said Garner's death was due to excessive force, the city's tax authorities filed suit against a Virginia-based tobacco shop for supplying untaxed cigarettes on Staten Island.

According to a recent report, 57 percent of the cigarettes smoked in New York are smuggled across state lines to avoid state and city taxes, which total $58.50 per carton.

According to cancer.org:

"Higher prices reduce cigarette consumption and save lives."

Put another way, higher cigarette prices and taxes criminalized behavior like Eric Garner's and the tragic implications of the city's laws and police enforcement.