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After months of debate over the budget in New Jersey, the latest agreement doesn’t actually tax electronic cigarettes as had been pushed for by a number of Jersey politicians, including Governor Chris Christie. This is a significant win for e-cigs as the momentum to tax them in New Jersey was rather strong for a time.

Proponents of an electronic cigarette tax argued that it was designed to protect non-smokers from nicotine and reduce consumption of e-cigs by smokers. But ultimately it appeared clear the tax was drawn up mostly to squeeze extra cash out of consumers to make up for a state-wide deficit.

And while e-cig opponents supported the tax, many questioned its validity. Experts claimed the tax likely discourage quitting and run businesses out of town.

Research is continuing to show that electronic cigarettes are extremely viable cessation options for smokers. At worst, they outperform patches by mirroring patch quit rate and getting those that don’t quit to smoke less. At best, they appear capable of completely replacing tobacco cigarettes for around 25% of smokers. Taxing e-cigs would only make it more likely individuals might stick to smoking — which is known to be far more harmful.

As for the business argument, New York is experiencing some pains when it comes to it’s own high tobacco taxes which have led to a healthy black market and common border state purchasing. In fact, New Jersey benefits quite significantly from individuals purchasing cigarettes cheaper there for use in New York. It was likely that a hefty tax — which could have been as much as 95% at a time — would only send business back to New York or across other state lines.

You can read full coverage of the budget here.

Ultimately this was a big win for electronic cigarettes. Whether the tax was dropped because proponents actually changed their minds or simply because they thought it would make it too hard to reach an agreement on the budget, e-cig businesses and community at large can chop this up as a win.