Gov. Kate Brown said recently she won’t support raising taxes on beer and wine, though she favors higher taxes on cigarettes. Getting the former through the Legislature and past a possible referendum vote of the people would be too difficult, she said.

That may be true, but there’s also a problem with the cigarette tax. Any increase in cigarette taxes will fall most heavily on those at the low end of the economic ladder. In other words, cigarette taxes are as regressive as hell.

The more poorly educated and poor you are, the more likely you are to smoke. Thus according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 25 of every 100 adults living below the federal poverty level smoke, while only about 14 of every 100 above that line smoke. Moreover, the higher your socio-economic status, the less likely you are to smoke.

So, in an effort to raise money and cut substance abuse, Brown and the Oregon Health Authority think it’s dandy to raise taxes on poor people who smoke. Of course, raising prices on cigarettes does create an incentive for people to smoke less or quit. And we hope if you do smoke, that you quit. But a better plan is to persuade Oregonians that new tax dollars are necessary and then make sure whatever tax is imposed does not hit those least able to afford it the hardest.