$13 a pack? NYC mayor wants highest cigarette prices in U.S.

The AP reports:

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing for the nation’s biggest city to also be the country’s priciest spot to buy a pack of smokes.

De Blasio is backing an effort to raise the minimum price of a pack of cigarettes from $10.50 to $13, which he says would be the nation’s highest.

New York tax on cigarettes is $4.35, the highest in the nation, and brand-name packs there are already around $12. California’s tax rose this month to $2.83, making the price of a brand-name pack around $8.

De Blasio announced his support Wednesday for a series of legislative proposals designed to drastically cut tobacco use in the city by the year 2020. He says his goal is to reduce the number of smokers by 160,000. An estimated 900,000 New York City residents currently smoke.

Comrade De Blasio's endless war on working peoples' pocketbook.