Americans for Tax Reform is on the ground today in Philadelphia, meeting with vapor and e-cigarette businesses to co-opt local business efforts to prevent a tax on vaporized nicotine products.
According to the press release, “This comes on the heels of a $2-per-pack cigarette tax hike that recently went into effect to increase education funding.Join Philadelphia vapers(sic), e-cigarette users, and local small business owners for this panel discussion on the harmful impact of a new tax hike on a growing industry.”
While many smokers view vaporizing nicotine as a path to quitting smoking, the Koch and Rove-financed affiliated groups says that the taxes could put vendors out of business in a largely unregulated market.
The press release makes it fairly clear that this is largely a “spoonfeeding conservative rhetoric” type of event:
WHAT:Opponents of the e-cigarette and vapor tax hike will gather at Bridget Foy’s Sunday afternoon to find out why the proposed tax hikes on the products will kill jobs and hurt the Philadelphia economy. Advocates will discuss what consumers can do to stop this tax.
They’re meeting up at Bridget Foy’s, an upscale restaurant. (Sadly, their even announcement neglected to say what time!)
A bunch of people who hate taxes and have an interest in the nicotine vapor industry will be speaking, as well as one local business owner.
Americans for Tax Reform will be calling the shots:
WHO:Speakers will include
- Amit Fridman, Owner of Sababa Vapes
- Cynthia Cabrera, Executive Director of the Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association
- Paul Blair, State Affairs Manager at Americans for Tax Reform
- Gregory Conley, President of the American Vaping Association
- Alex Clark, Legislative Director of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association
Moderated by Patrick Gleason, Director of State Affairs at Americans for Tax Reform.
Americans for Tax Reform is also offering free drinks, especially for any press that is bored enough to show up.
Oh no, let’s try to tax something in the same way for a completely different product. It is funny that so many people assume that anyone who vapes does so because they wanted to quit smoking, while that is the case for some it is not the case for all. It is not specifically a cessation device. I know many people who vape that have never smoked a day in their life.