Smokers feeling abused as federal tax hike hits

I'm still waiting for citizens to get the " balls " to protest this. I'm waiting for tobacco companies to say no and the people/businesses to back them up. I'm still waiting for the Auto companies to tell the Government where to stick it and give back that bailout money. I'm still waiting.

Is our country " not ours "? They do work for us don't they? Why do we keep letting them control us?



[edit on 4/1/2009 by Solarskye]

reply to post by Solarskye


We all are.

And, my guess is that we will be waiting for a long time.

reply to post by skeptic1


I want to join the people in a rebellion but I see nothing that even hints of one to come. Will we still pay when cigarettes are $10.00 a pack? How far will we fall before it's too late to show this country that we matter.

reply to post by Solarskye


We will still pay, they're $10 a pack here in New York and people still buy 'em everyday. I roll my own so I was paying $2 a pack for about 40 smokes but just the other day it went up to $4 for the same pack of tobacco

Originally posted by Flighty

Originally posted by larphillips
No, the monster is going to look to feed elsewhere; and when it does, all of these fools who happily voted for the tobacco taxes are going to find that something THEY like to do is going to get bit eventually.
www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Well thats alcohol and tobacco done, so next they'll invent a new guilt tax to feed this hungy monster that you speak of.

Ooh, lets see....... what everyday luxuries items could we tax in these tough financial times......
How about.....
40% tax on ALL COSMETICS ( lotions, potions, bathbombs,etc etc) and ALL COSMETIC PROCEDURES like Botox, artificial suntans, plastic surgery....
None of these are necessary, so girls you'll have to cough up for the little kids in these hospitals....and other social programmes that we need money for.
It will be called a VANITY TAX.

I can just imagine TSHTF if that ever gets introduced.

It would raise absolute gazillions!!

Sorry to hear about how much tax that's been sucked out of you smokers.
I'm paying $14 for something that only costs $3 to make (cigarettes)
So I can totally sympathise.

Pretty sure the "sin tax" is primarily applied to things poor to middle class people use and not applied to RICH only toys and services.... correct me if I'm wrong.

The best way to protest this is to quit giving them your money. I'm mad as hell that I'm forced to do it but theres nothing any of us can do about it. I'm down right psychoticaly mad about it. I F-N hate this country I hope the next terrorist attack hits Washington. I want to see politicians burn.

Originally posted by Shadowflux
So why on earth would you want to support such excessive taxation? Is it because you can afford to smoke high class cigarettes and therefore don't care if you have to pay extra? Or is it that you happen to not live in the US as du Maurier are produced by Imperial Tobacco CANADA?

Neither
Cigarettes is just not the fight to fight right now
way too many important issues going on than the right to tax your lungs economically

Secondly, I strongly feel that smokers aren't fighting for the more important causes that i listed
like a 5pack or 6pack

Originally posted by Shadowflux
I find it hard to believe that any whiskey drinking American would smoke something called du Maurier.

You do know that beer and whiskey are as addictive and dangerous as tobacco if not more so? I don't smoke one too many cigarettes and slam my car into a mini van full of kids.

ah dude, Du Maurier is the best cigarette ever!!!
BY FAR
I've tried every american brand and others
My favorites are du maurier and Dunhill Special Blend

Yes I know man
I smoke cigarettes sometimes that green stuff, drink beer alcohol

Trust me i'm no boy scout!
Everything is okay in moderation

Sin taxes--traditionally levied on alcohol and tobacco--are inherently regressive and disproportionately burden the poor, yet they are firmly entrenched as a practice and offer a quick fix in times of fiscal need. Opponents to this method of generating revenue cite its regressive nature and argue that sin taxes are paternalistic and bad social policy. Others disagree, contending that smokers need every incentive to quit, or that alcoholics should be required to mitigate the social costs of their habit. In recent years, a new class of sin taxes has reached deeper into popular culture than ever before, confusing the basic role of the tax system with the improper role of government as social engineer.

taxprof.typepad.com...

The thing I don't like is that the government taxes people with the intent of changing one's behavior.

I see alot of people saying that they will quit smoking because of the high price.

Here in Belgium we have been paying over 5 $ for a pack of Marlboro Red (20 cigs) for the last 10 years now.

And sure some people actually did quit smoking, but sadly enough the total number of smokers did NOT go down significantly.

Daily i see young people on the way to school having a smoke, wondering where they actually get the money to buy them.

Currently a pack of 20 cigs costs around 6 to 6.20 $

I bought my first pack at the price of 0.9 $ 26 years ago.

And even now law forbids smoking in public area, on the job, bars and restaurants, and maybe soon even at home when you got kids around, i haven't succeeded in fully quitting to smoke.

Stupidly enough, government raises massive amounts of money with those taxes, and if we did all quit today then tomorrow they would vote some other tax to replace the lost income.

So yes, i grant myself the luxury of having 10 to 15 cigs in the evening when the kids are off to bed and i still enjoy them. I only hope my kids will not make the same "mistake" i made as a teenager, if it ain't for the money then at least for a better health.

Just don't be fooled, government doesn't give a damn about your health, they just need your money.

And your health is their excuse.

The only really good news here now is, if you succeed in stopping you not only get healthier, you also save more money

Originally posted by wantsome
I quit two weeks ago the government aint getting no more money from me.

I think they should go after fat people next. Have you seen the size of people recently. I went to a buffet yesterday and it looked like a bunch of cattle waiting in line. Some of these people could barely walk. I say tax them make them come in once a week to get weighed and charge them $0.50 for every lb there over wieght. Whats fair is fair.

Yehhhh lets tax ugly people too, or lets tax people with pimples.... your a shallow shallow person!!

My 'Tea Party' will be to get my cigarettes anyway I can to avoid the federal and state tax. Asia has some pretty cheap prices on cigarettes and even with shipping they will be less expensive for me. Even if they were the same price I would do it out of principle to avoid paying the tax. If a few get caught in customs.....so what I will order more. Mexico is in disarray on the border right now and we can't contain the violence, the people coming over or anything else. If I have to find a 'cigarette coyote' to help me out or through some of the more 'established trade routes' I will do it just to avoid the taxes. Let them find me and try to charge 'use' taxes. Besides, they might even be better than the burn-out cigs they sell anyways, which by the way were never tested for health effects just hoisted on us.

We really should just legalize and tax marijuana, it would create billions in tax revenue for the state, bankrupt organized crime related to marijuana and would appease the populace in more ways than one.

I'm so sick of the government putting more and more taxes on my cigarettes! I've been boycotting American-made cigarettes for a while now, and will continue to do so until these taxes disappear.

To get my fix until they do that, I did a search on the internet a while back for cheap cigarettes and found that you can get cigarettes imported from Europe for about $20 a carton. Think about that, $20, for a full 10-pack carton. $15 for the carton, and then about $5 shipping and handling. $2 a pack!

In America, I can get me a carton of Marlboro reds for about $55-60 a carton. Outrageous! The imported cigarettes tastes pretty much the same, if not better, than the American-made. I've been and will continue buying imported cigarettes until there is a reason to buy American-made cigarettes again.

On another note, I've heard about the e-cigs, but that just seems so fake to me and I don't trust them. I'm not sayin they're horrible, I'm just saying I'd rather have me a real cigarette.

This tax hike is some bullsh*t...pardon my language. I am an avid smoker, I've smoked for about 7-8 years now and do actually enjoy my smoking. But I'm seriously considering quitting. I live in Kentucky where alot of tobacco comes from and have been fairly cheap until now. A carton of Marlboro's here was hovering around 25 a carton 2-3 weeks ago. but now its more like 40 - 45 a carton. Add that to the fact that now Louisville is a smoke free city, where I can't enjoy a good smoke at the bar with friends or after dinner anymore.

So not only am I being taxed to death for my hard earned dollars, but i cant really fully enjoy what my money is going towards b/c of secondhand smoke. When decisions are made in the govt, we smokers aren't being represented at all. We get the short end of the stick.

Isn't taxation without representation why the founders of this great country started a revolution against england? If the govt keeps raising taxes on everything like they've been doing with tobacco, alcohol, gas, food and everything else while the general population's wages keep going down, methinks they might have a big problem like England did a few hundred years ago.

Something even more messed up is the fact that in Indiana now, not only are they dealing with taxes and a smokin ban in public places, but you can be given a 500 dollar fine if a cop is called to your premises for something and sees ciggarette butts in your ashtray. Happened to my buddy a couple weeks ago, when he called the cops to his house cause someone broke into his truck. Talk about adding insult to injury, right?

reply to post by Shadowflux


I fully agree that we should legalize hemp. Not only will it create thousands of jobs for the economy, and millions in tax revenue, but it is far more eco-friendly and green than petrol products used to make our goods today. Hemp resins can create plastic like products, hemp fibers can be used for clothing and materials, hemp oil can run our cars the same as vegetable oil, and not to mention if you catch it on fire you get some very "interesting" side effects.

Kentucky's number one cash crop used to be hemp products. The only reason hemp was outlawed was because of the petrol companies wanting to get rid of competition during the turn of the century.

Also, marijuana relieves, headaches, nausea, stress, and many other ailments. think about how much revenue the pharm companies would be out of if we grew our own aspirin, pepto bismol, or whatever else ails you, in our backyards.

As I head out to have my third cig of the day, it has occurred to me that cig prices have raised $2.20 a pack here in Santa Barbara.

Based on the fact that I could get a pack at any sevo just a couple months ago for only $4, depending on the promotion, and today it is $6.20, that would make the cost increase about 50% in just a few months.

Similar to gasoline last year.

What bothers me most, is that we are supposed to have taxation with representation in this country.

So are us smokers getting any extra representation out of this?

No, we are not. Instead, we are actually being flogged for the masses, publicly punished with the dividends given to the people.

Congrats, Obama supporters.

I am so glad that it was trendy to put those campaign stickers on your cars.

It lets me know who I can blame in a couple more months.

I quit smoking cigarettes on Jan 1, 2001 after 35 years and ultimately puffing up to two packs per day. The poor will go without food and clothing to buy their cigarettes. So just quit, you say? Easier said than done as I know firsthand.

The bottom line here is that It is totally wrong to raise taxes on one group of citizens to support projects that benefit all citizens. This is only the first Obama tax increase on the poor and the middle class. There are many more to come, in spite of Obama's campaign "promises."

Originally posted by Shadowflux

I heard about the e-cigs a while ago as a Japanese trend product, I thought they were neat but my brother raised a good point about them the other day. He said that the dose of nicotine is higher per e-cig than it is per normal cig which would in effect hinder any attempts at quitting smoking. I just hope we don't end up with nicotine junkies.

Your brother would have had a point if it weren't for the fact that the cartridges and refill bottles come in varying levels of nicotine.

The Medium strength nicotine for e-cigs is measured to equal an average cigarette in vaping use.
Measured by average users puff.

There are different strengths of nicotine.
- No nicotine.
- Low nicotine (about half intake of a cigarette)
- Medium nicotine (Equivalent to cigarette intake)
- High nicotine (Equivalent to the old incredibly strong cigarettes nobody uses any more. At least I haven't seen those things around.)

There is a novelty bottle out there that I would never recommend, I can't remember what they called it, but it purposely pushes the limits of nicotine intake... don't use it. It's hard to get your hands on, and you don't want to.


I personally use the medium level nicotine fluid... and yeah, my nicotine cravings haven't altered up or down, so I know it's the same dosage.


All in all, it still feels like smoking, tastes better (tastes like high quality hookah tobacco), my lungs feel MUCH stronger, no more flem, no bad smell, I've gained energy back I never realized I had before...

Physically, it feels like I was never a smoker.
Mentally, I still get the mental stimulation of nicotine, it's clear thinking and calming effects.


Your brother had likely just finished reading one of the slander news reports on them which claim we're some kind of sinister group trying to hook kids on cigarettes... gotta love retarded reporters.

E-cigs are simply meant to get existing smokers away from those awful tar filled sticks of death... and at the same time, allow the non-smokers to stop worrying about second hand smoke.

It's a win win situation, EVERYONE can breathe easily knowing they aren't inhaling tar, arsenic, cyanide, and 40,000 other harmful chemicals.


... but for some reason, some idiots want to ban it because it "looks like smoking".
(Of course it looks like smoking, idiots, the patches and gum fails because it doesn't satisfy the habit itself.)

Basically, those who want to ban e-cigs are demanding you inhale second hand smoke.

[edit on 1-4-2009 by johnsky]

Whats ironic is....

The Tax is because smoking is bad for us...Help U.S tax payer's pay for smoker's when they get sick.

But it's all going to a children's health care program.

And we are now left with the same gaping hole.


We die 10 year's earlier...That add's up when you consider social security..
Take my last ten year's of social security because i died...
To tend to non smoker's..Who should just die already from eating there Twinkies..
The non smoker's are gonna drain us out of more money in the long run than smoker's..
Add it up.

reply to post by johnsky


Thanks for the info, my brother doesn't have a computer so he is a bit of a slave to propaganda from time to time. As much as I like smoking I suppose I would be willing to give the e-cigs a shot as long as they're not more expensive than regular cigs.

From what I've heard the e-cig is basically a small vaporizer, does this mean that one could put.....well...things other than nicotine in them?

Do these light up when you drag on them like the Japanese ones do?