Will cigarette taxes stop people from smoking?

Will cigarette taxes stop people from smoking?

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Many people argue between whethere cigarette taxes are good or bad. The true is that cigarette taxes can be both good and bad depending on how much it is raised. The good cause is that the raise of taxes will make some people quit smoking because of the high prices. According to the News and Observer cigarettes sales fell as much as 18 percent during the first 10 months after the tax increase.

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[edit on 24-5-2007 by UM_Gazz]

I personally think that this taxes can do some good to us because if you dont smoke there is probably some one in your family that does, and this taxes could make them quit smoking.

I am for the raise of Taxes.

http:
(visit the link for the full news article)

I agree. Almost every single person that ever quits for good has stated that their life has gotten better, and they generally feel better. With all this positive testimony, as well as scientific facts declaring their hazard to life, on top of the admittance of the tobacco idustry itself, one would assume a cigarette smoker would understand why it would benefit their long-term life to just quit on their own.

Perhaps some of the revenue can be used to fund dedicated classes about the negatives of ALL drugs (illicit, cigs, alcohol) in public schools. You know show the real side of smoking, drinking, popping pills, snorting powder for a long time in your life.

To answer your question: No!
I've seen it in Germany, the higher the taxes went, the more smuggled their cigarettes and Baccy, as simple as that!


Reg,
Sammy

Um no!!

My dad was a heavy, heavy smoker. He would go through a carton in 2 days.

I remember him saying, "well when cigarettes goes up to $1.00 a pack, I'll quit. Well it went there and past there. Didn't faze him or slow him down.

Just makes them spend more money for what they want. Not stop them.

Hey well then he gets to offset his guilt with the fact his hard-earned money will contribute to public funding, thats a good as reason as any.

Originally posted by mhector3500
I am for the raise of Taxes.

Thank you for the opinion that will let the Government take even more money out of my pocket...I've never been an advocate of any raise in any kind of tax. What the government needs to do is seriously downsize its operations...Both State & Federal levels. The bigger the Government gets, the more money they'll take away from you to keep it going & expand itself more; This is one of the dangers from Government that prompted the many writings from the Founding Forefathers back in the late 1700's...
Besides, all this will do is cause more people to buy directly from US Indian Reservations...NO TAXES on anything sold from such a source!
P.S.
Lots of websites sell cigs right from the Reservations, even as I write this. In all cases I've seen, the cost of shipping is still far less than the amount of money that would have otherwise been spent on the taxes...

Originally posted by DYepes
I agree. Almost every single person that ever quits for good has stated that their life has gotten better, and they generally feel better. With all this positive testimony, as well as scientific facts declaring their hazard to life, on top of the admittance of the tobacco idustry itself, one would assume a cigarette smoker would understand why it would benefit their long-term life to just quit on their own.

Originally posted by Shar
Um no!!...
...Just makes them spend more money for what they want. Not stop them.

But raising the taxes (or even the base pricing) isn't the solution, DYepes...There are many homeless people who can't afford cigs, but they still get them anyway, because of the addiction; Shar is exactly right on that point.
DYepes has also mentioned that the solution is to cure the addiction, but should be done in a way so that the government can't steal even more money from The People...But do the various State Governments even mention anything, like putting the money into public-access quit-smoking programs? NO, THEY DON'T! They'll just line their own pockets a little more thickly for other pork-barrel projects.
DYepes also mentioned that "some" of the revenue be used for this purpose but it should be ALL the new revenue, not merely some of it!

I have to say I thinka cigarette tax is a good thing, wil ti make everyone quit, no,
will it make some people quit, yes, will it help in the long run with medical costs,
yes if the tax is set-up correctly.

Now mind you I do think that there should be a limit to the tax to, like it can't go
above 15% of the sales price of the cigarettes.

Well I have never lived in a country cigarettes haven't been taxed. People still buy booze and cigarettes even if there is a tax in place. In recent times any reduction in the number of people who smoke is due to social and health reasons.

People don't smoke on TV any more and outlawing tobacco company's from advertising would have helped but this isnt a new measure.

[edit on 21-5-2007 by xpert11]

Originally posted by Aldolas

I've seen it in Germany, the higher the taxes went, the more smuggled their cigarettes and Baccy, as simple as that!


Reg,
Sammy

You have a point there. It is true that if the taxes on cigarettes go up also criminal organizations go up, becasue they want to smuggle cigarettes abit cheaper.

And i think that if the tax is raised, then it should be raised on all states equally (the same amount) because many people will start going to the bourder line to buy cigarettes, because they are cheaper in their neighboring states.

If the tax is raised equally on all the states than people will have no place to buy them cheaper.

[edit on 21-5-2007 by mhector3500]

Yes, it is dificult to make someone 40 years or older to quit smoking, probably because they hav smoked cigarettes their whole life and are to addicted to quit. But jet, their are people who have really quited but the numbers are not that big

the ones that do quit are teenagers because they are more sensetibe to money than adults, and will rether stop smoking.

I will chime in on this one:
I believe it will be a bad idea. For starters, anyone who live on the border with Mexcio or near a native american reservation, can simply go to either place and bypass the tax. It will create a black market situation. Prices already do, I know as I see it when I go down to one of the border towns and people who go down to say Tijauna come back up and sell a pack for 3 dollars. If you go to any store that sells a pack of cigarettes, it goes for about 4.69 per pack. Now they are going to raise the amount to generate revenue? This is a bad idea, cause I was under the impression the fines and lawsuits that were levied against the tobacco companies was supposed to go towards health care and other related areas. What happened with the money from that? From what I have recalled, it did not go there, but it went into other parts of most states finances. If they want to curb teen age smoking, I would support more of a law that would make it illegale for those underage to smoke or use tobacco. I have heard one city in the midwest that took an aggressive approach to curbing teenage smoking. What made it a success was that it took the approach, that they would not only go after the business's who sold tobacco to underage persons, but also the underage person as well. What the city did was direct the police to give citation to any teenager seen smoking or using tobacco, which means that they would have to show up in court with a parent and explain where they got the tobacco from. And they were also fined in the process. And if a person was seen giving say a cigarette to a teen or underage person, they too got a fine. This way it attacked the problem from both angles, not only the business's that sell tobacco to underage persons, but also those who give tobacco to underage persons as well. From a business stand point, most convience stores will be hurt by the measure, as tobacco is part of the revenue. I can control who buys the produt in my store, but can not control what happens to it after it leaves the door and goes with the customer. Just my thoughts.

only the cancer will stop me

I smoke a pipe. My habit (and it is a habit, not an addiction ) costs me about £8 a week. I guess if they put it up by 100% I might think twice. But even then it'd hardly break the bank .....

I vote yes.
People who say they don't care because they'll still smoke anyway, might get a long-term impact on their cash reserves (as they will run out or will have less of it due to smoking).

There are cheap alternatives to cigarettes, and arguments about the government taking more money out of your pocket? THEN DON'T SMOKE, it's as simple as that. But you want to? Because you're either addicted? Or can't restrain yourself from the temptation it brings to you?

Then that's your problem.

It doesn't matter. The government has no right to make decisions for you. Raising the prices artificially through tax is a violation of the ideology of a limited government.

My personal opinion is that they should ban cigarettes for people under a certain age. Ie if we started right now, nobody born after 2007 would EVER be allowed to buy cigarettes. That way you aren't making it hard on the people who are already addicted, you just phase it out of the system. Obviously some kids will choose to take it up even when it's illegal for them, but that's their fault. Then in 100 years once all the oldest smokers die, there will be no reason to even sell cigarettes any more. Bam. Problem entirely eliminated, except for a non-visible underground group like those who currently do coc aine, marijuana, etc.

Violation of rights. The federal government has no right to tell me what I can and can't put into my body. If I want to smoke, I'll sure as hell do it. Some stuck-up senators can't vote that away from me. And then there's the rights of the tobacco companies. They'll die.

[edit on 21-5-2007 by Johnmike]

Originally posted by themaster1
only the cancer will stop me

Quite possibly the most retarded thing I've ever read.

Trust me you really don't mean that. It's not a good way to die or watch someone die. i hope you never had to go through it, however illadvised your comments.

themaster1 Is that a French flag in your avatar?

Are you kidding!? If the possibility of dying from throat/lung cancer won't stop people from smoking, how on earth would raising the price force people to quit?