Missouri’s low taxes on cigarettes good for smokers, smugglers

Missouri’s low tax on cigarettes is encouraging lawlessness.

At 17 cents a pack, Missouri’s tobacco tax is the most smoker-friendly in the nation, cheaper even than in states that have cigarettes named for them.

For people with rudimentary math skills and access to trucking equipment, the 17-cent tax presents an opportunity. Ghalib Shahjamaluddin is (allegedly) such a person. Federal authorities say he transported 29 million cigarettes from Missouri to Illinois, taking advantage of the 81-cents-a-pack difference in the states’ excise taxes.