The USA taxes the hell out of cigarettes and alcohol. In fact, In FY11, with a federal excise tax on cigarettes at $1.01 per pack, $15.1 billion dollars in tax revenue for the federal government was collected in 2011. In FY 2011, states collected an additional $17.7 billion in tax revenues from cigarette companies. These above taxes for cigarettes do not take into account that in most states sales taxes are added which produced even more tax revenue from cigarette sales. According to RJ Reynolds the "government per-pack profit from cigarettes in 2011 was $3.68 (or 66 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes)".
Alcohol taxation is divided into the three basic categories of: wine, beer, and spirits. For FY11 over $6.24 billion dollars in tax revenue was generated from alcohol sales for state and local taxes according to the taxpolicycenter.org. There is also a federal excise tax on alcohol depending on whether it is beer, wine, or spirits in which in FY07 a total of $9.35 billion dollars in revenue was collected. Additionally, most states have a sales tax for alcohol which too brings in additional revenue.
Sin taxes for alcohol and cigarettes are pretty much accepted by the general public and are undoubtedly here to stay as they have generated massive revenues for engaging in something that is a personal choice and which has some nasty health issues. It is somewhat surprising though that porn, adult entertainment, and the like have somehow skated their way through without having to pay the piper some sin taxes. This should rightly change and it should change immediately.
The sin tax for porn should consist of a special tax on all media, all adult novelty stores, and all men's clubs and should be divided between a federal tax and a state and local tax. The tax percentage should be huge, as in a double-digit percentage, and it should simply be looked upon by entrepreneurs as the cost of doing business. With the exception of a few localities, there aren't all that many municipalities that encourage this type of business or desire it so for those that insist upon entering the adult world of porn, the price for that admission should be a sin tax.
As for the patrons that solicit these types of establishments, it will end up costing you a few more dollars to get your entertainment or your x-rated media or your adult novelties and the businesses that you frequent will continue to stay open and even perhaps innovate to adjust to the new economics.
I'm not sure how porn and the adult entertainment business have survived so long without facing a sin tax but certainly it is their turn to step up and face the music. While I suspect there will be a hue and cry from everybody, in the end, businesses will adjust, patrons will adjust, entertainers will adjust, and somehow it will be business as usual, but with the government getting a much bigger piece of the action in return for allowing these sinful businesses to continue to operate.
Seems fair enough.