Industry groups, including convenience stores and bodegas, are opposed to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed ban on flavored cigarettes, as well as the $1-a-pack hike in cigarette taxes.

About 13,000 outlets across the state are licensed to sell tobacco products. Kent Sopris, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, represents about 7,500 of them.

“It’s really simple. Prohibition doesn’t work,” Sopris said to Capital Tonight.  

His argument against the ban and the tax hike is that both will hurt small businesses, eliminate jobs and strengthen the already-thriving underground market.

“It’s not hard in New York state to find tobacco products outside the retail market,” he said. “Fifty-four percent of total cigarettes sold and purchased in New York state are illegal,” he said. 

But Michael Davoli, senior government relations director with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network of New York, takes issue with Sopris’ statement.

“The simple fact is, over a billion dollars is generated every year in cigarette taxes because the vast majority of tobacco products are sold legally, over the counter, in grocery stores, bodegas and elsewhere in the state,” Davoli said. “Is there an illegal market? Yes. Absolutely. But it does not change the fact that when you increase the cost of tobacco, you’re going to drive down smoking rates.”

The assumption here is that New York will spend more cigarette tax revenue on smoking cessation. Both Sopris and Davoli agree that it’s a worthwhile expenditure.

“A lot of the cessation programs are working,” according to Sopris. “New York has the lowest adult smoking rates in a generation.”

“For more than two decades, New York state has been one of the leaders in the nation in curbing tobacco use,” Davoli said. “We have seen a huge reduction in smoking rates.”

It’s one of the reasons that Davoli is disappointed the state budget didn’t directly add to smoking cessation efforts.

“This is the one missed opportunity in the budget,” he said. “The Centers for Disease Control recommends that New York state spend $106 million on tobacco cessation programs and services.”

The closest the state has ever come to that was back in 2008 when the state spent $85 million. The current budget allocation is $39.8 million. 

“Given the efficacy of tobacco taxes in reducing tobacco use, New York needs to invest in helping people quit,” Davoli said.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 22,000 New Yorkers will die of smoking related illnesses this year.

Sopris argues that taxes won’t be collected if certain kinds of cigarettes are banned, and instead purchased on the black market.

“In the black market, there’s no taxation,” he said.