A trip to flavor country is about to get even pricier.Last year,

Published 8:00 am Thursday, February 25, 2010

A trip to flavor country is about to get even pricier.Last year, Washington, D.C., in an effort to scare up a little recession-era cash, raised taxes on cigarettes by .50 cents.The sin tax, as it’s known, is a staple for politicians because it’s so versatile. They’re able to make the somewhat genuine claim that, by deterring people from smoking, the tax is promoting good public-health. While also bringing in more money to fund the stuff that gets them re-elected. A true win-win.Except that D.C. didn’t win. In fact, after raising taxes, the city actually brought in less money than it had before.Washington is about to raise the cost of a pack of cigarettes by another dollar. A hike that will make it the highest sin tax in the country. So could the same reversal that happened to D.C. happen to us? Probably not. Here’s why.The most obvious reason why Washington isn’t doomed to the same fate as the city that shares its name has to do with geography.D.C. is a city full of commuters. Surrounded on all sides by two states that keep prices relatively low. Therefore, when prices went up, it became a lot easier for the Department of Defense staffer who lives in Vienna to justify waiting till he got home, rather than buying his pack of Marlboros on his lunch break.But D.C. doesn’t have tribal reservations like we do, you might say. And you’d be right.But according to Mike Gowrylow at the Department of Revenue, that doesn’t matter either. Those same tribes that could offer Wal-Mart-like discounts have entered into an agreement with the state. They charge a special “tribal tax” so as to not undercut other outlets, then get to keep the profits they make on each pack.But won’t this just convince more people to quit smoking?Almost certainly. Gowrylow says that the last time Olympia jacked up the cost of nicotine (a .60 cent jump in ’05) the number of smokers went down too. But not by enough to make a real dent. Bad news for those poor souls still looking for their daily fix o’ tar. But good for a state badly in need of some cash.