MIDLAND (WKZO) — A new study from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy finds 25-percent of all cigarettes smoked in Michigan in 2013 were smuggled into the state, the 10th highest percentage in the country.
Michigan’s smuggling rate in 2013 was down from the 27.6-percent rate in 2012, partly due to higher taxes in border states like Indiana and Wisconsin, and partly because more people are kicking the habit. The top two states for cigarette smuggling according to the study were New York, where 58-percent of the cigarettes are smuggled, and Arizona, with a rate of 49.3-percent
A 2008 study found when Indiana and Wisconsin raised cigarette taxes, retail sales in border counties in Michigan rose by as much as 50-percent.
