Cigarette prices in Washington

Yesterday at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, I met by arrangement with a former Wilson High School student, now a University of Oregon freshman. He wanted to give me $5, and I wanted to have him fill out a form correctly despite there being 16 places on it where an error invalidating his donation of $5 could be made. So it’s not a quick “Hi-Thanks-Bye” process, rather it takes several minutes. We sat on a bench that happened to be one of the designated smoking spots at the periphery of the stadium. Another young man sat puffing on his cancer-stick next to us. He was fascinated by the $5/form exchange process — generally on campus, the old people are giving the young ones cash, and waving it goodbye without documentation. We explained what we were doing.

“Well, I wouldn’t give you $5, you want to raise taxes on my cigarettes”, he said, pointing at the “Yes on 50” sticker on my yellow jacket. We conversed. Then he smiled and said, “Actually, it don’t matter to me, I live in Washington. Cigarettes cost $6 a pack there. They’ll still be cheaper in Oregon even if this tax passes.”

Anyone know if this is accurate?