All the hikes in cigarette taxes are making the problem worse, not better!

Anyone who smokes can tell you that it's one hell of an expensive habit. In the last couple of years, it's gotten outrageous! When tax revenues took a dive due to the economic meltdown (caused by the rich and greedy), State legislatures and the Federal Government decided to go after the easy target to get some of that revenue back: Smokers. While it is true that smoking related illness is a burden on society, $10.47 per pack sold and consumed in the U.S., the increases are only going to drive that number up.

Why do I say this? While it did cause a 27 year smoker like myself to quit (almost 9 months since I quit), I seem to be in the minority. In fact, I don't know a single other person who has quit because it's so expensive a habit. What I have seen is a drastic increase in people who 'roll their own'. It is infinitely cheaper to buy a tin of tobaco and some rolling papers than it is to buy a pack of filtered cigarettes. Now having smoked for 27 years, I can tell you that the filter catches alot of 'gunk' that would end up in your lungs without it. So now we have a large number of people who are smoking unfiltered cigarettes, and in time the health related effects will grow exponetially.

So while we see a small increase in tax revenues today from this, what we face tomorrow is a healthcare nightmare. Let's face it, the only real solution to the ever growing healthcare costs of smokers is to have nicotine classified as an addictive drug, and outlaw the damn things once and for all. Trust me, after the withdrawl symptoms subside, most smokers will thank you for getting that monkey off their backs... Now the cigarette manufacturers on the other hand...

First, congrats for quitting! Kudos there. I quit once as well for 6 months, but can you guess what triggered me to smoke again? It was the little simple fact that I noticed the packaging on my brand changed!! WTF? That was weird. I bought a pack and it was like sex when I lit it up. *sigh* LOL good marketing is allllll I got to say.

Anyway, you're right. Jacking up the prices will not help when we are talking about an addictive substance. If I can't afford to smoke, I'll find another means to smoke cheaper *somehow* good thread. S&F.

This is a really great topic, and I hope that it gets the attention it deserves.

15 year smoker here, and with the exception of making tobacco illegal, agree completely. I won't speak for smokers in general, but for me, as the bills get harder to pay, the time between smokes starts to shrink, as does the desire to quit.

Originally posted by Unit541
but for me, as the bills get harder to pay, the time between smokes starts to shrink, as does the desire to quit.

Interesting reaction; me too. All the rhetoric about how making cigarettes more expensive discourages smoking seem to ignore something about the American psyche.

Americans look upon economic disincentives as challenges to fight against and overcome, not as guidance from the "Hidden Hand" to which they should submit.

Reminds me of the old saw... what's the best way to lead a pig?

I agree the cost of smoking has gone up @ a crazy rate.

its still legal to get them from a duty free store ...

Example

apparently its cheaper to buy imported American cigarettes from Ukraine ,
and have them shipped back to America.

Canada has high taxes on alcohol and cigarettes too.

I also agree quitting is the best option and the cheapest.

[edit on 2-7-2010 by Zeta Reticulan]

The joke here in Calif is the only ones to profit from the high cigarette taxes are the Nevada Indian tribes.
You go to Reno to one of the tribal smoke shops and all you see in the parking lots are cars from Calif and people carrying out halt to full cases of cigarettes.

And the state of Calif claims a decrease in smoking in Calif.

What i see is a decrease in sales in Calif and a big increase in sales by the Nevada tribes.

I am waiting for the day that the state of calif starts searching cars going back to calif at there agricultural check station for bootleg smokes just to raise money in fines.

I rolled my own for awhile before I quit. Even though it was cheaper it still wasn't exactly cheap. You can get filters to add very easily to ones you roll too.
I switched to an electronic cigarette and I am not going back. If done right it can be cheaper than tobacco and it's healthier IMO. I'm still hooked on nicotine but I can puff on my ecig for half the price of tobacco and get MORE enjoyment out of it. Other threads cover the beauty of ecigs in detail.

I don't know where you live, but brand name smokes are about $5.50 a pack here and I thought that was insane. At over ten bucks I wonder how many people out there are actually choosing between buying a meal or a pack of smokes? I imagine the worst addicts don't even feel like they have a choice.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts

I can tell you that the filter catches alot of 'gunk' that
would end up in your lungs without it.

Do your own research, but I've read that the majority of the "gunk" caught by a filter isn't from the tobacco. It's added by manufacturers.

If you roll your own from pure tobacco, you may be smoking a less destructive cigarette in the first place.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts


Three days. That is what I heard and found out personally, is all the time needed to get the addicted crap out of your body concerning smoking tabacco. The physical desire is no longer present. They psychological, however, can be present for a long time, even for the rest of one's life.

I had a kidney transplant. I was in intensive care for about 5 days. Most of that time is just like a dream to me. But after around the third day, the taste of nicotine and tobacco was gone and I did not desire to smoke a cigarette. My sister, however, who donated one of her kidneys to me, well, she was on a morphine pump, so she could be wheeled out of the hospital as soon as she wakened from the anesthetic, to have a smoke.
She could have quit, but all the morphiine in the world didn't quench her desire for a cigarette.

What a waste of money. I was a teenager working as a busboy in a resturant. I got paid 1.05 dollars an hour. Plus a few tips. For working an hour I could buy a pack of smokes and a quart of beer. Good stuff for a 14 year old. lol I doubt I could work today as a busboy and pay an hours wage for a pack of smokes and a quart of beer.

Causing problems? Yeah, smoking is. It's way too expensive. I'd rather spend 10 bucks for a marijuana joint than buy a pack of smokes. Oh, of course, I would never do that. Marijuana is bad.......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay?

When Bill Clinton was elected POTUS and said he wanted to raise taxes on tobacco, who was the leader of Canada, then? I forget. But this guy told him, hey, take is slow, Canada raised taxes too high on tobacco products all at once and Canada did not do well, at least at that time. The guy said, you raise taxes too high and less people will smoke and so you will get less government revenue.

I believe that the U.S. will eventually get to this point of less revenue from taxing smokers out of their habit. But, I must say, wow, it's taking a really long time for this.

It would seem reasonable to me that the taxes for tobacco would be put into a fund to pay for smokers' health problems. But that isn't happening.
And I think it should. It goes into other programs, and still, the smoking scourge still remains, and the "evil tobacco companies" can still sell these deadly, eventually, products. If tobacco is so evil and debilitating, then tobacco should be made illegal. But it isn't that way. There's too much money to be made from it all.

By the way, English cigarettes were much better than American cigarettes in the 1980's. Is this still true?

What if, and this is fantasy, every smoker of tobacco products suddenly quit tomorrow? No income for the states and federal government. What would the politicians go after next? They would need to replace that income, especially since for the next 60 years or so, there would be people, former smokers, who would need expensive medical care.

"Twiinkies", salt, fats, bacon (yum). red meat, corn syrup, french fries, bread. sugar, alcoholic beverages (this rise in taxes has just begun) the list could continue on for quite awhile, until there might need to be a tax for just living.







[edit on 3-7-2010 by kyred]

Originally posted by kyred
reply to post by JaxonRoberts

 

When Bill Clinton was elected POTUS and said he wanted to raise taxes on tobacco, who was the leader of Canada, then? I forget. But this guy told him, hey, take is slow, Canada raised taxes too high on tobacco products all at once and Canada did not do well, at least at that time. The guy said, you raise taxes too high and less people will smoke and so you will get less government revenue.
[edit on 3-7-2010 by kyred]

Jean Chretien - And the reason Canada did bad, I believe was because people would be smuggling them in from the states. Currently, I am lucky enough to live fairly close to an indian reserve and guess what? My smokes bill has been cut to a third of what the store brands are. So like stated otherwise somewhere in these posts, there is a drop in smoking stats by way of legal means....... the actual drop in smokers is negligible.


For these prices, you are stupid NOT to smoke, lol. J/K of course. People aren't going to quit because of strong arm tactics - they quit because they've had enough, and are quite sick of it. I stopped once too......... you never really quit.

Smoker here.

I remember right before the first tax increase on cigarettes.
I was paying $3.50 for a pack of Marlboros. Now here in Nevada, they are over $5(closer to 6 with the sales tax).
Would I pay that? Hell no. But is it going to stop me from smoking? Hell No!
Im sick of people trying to Label smokers the plagues of the Earth.
Anytime "we" need extra revenue, "THEY" go after "US".
Its pathetic.
So no, the Govt. will not stop me from doing what I want to do when it comes to my own personal buisness.

I will tell you what the prices did to ME though.
I went from Marlboros to Pall malls.
Pall Malls are still relatively cheap.
So the ONLY thing these tax hikes did was make me switch Brands.
I tried the whole "roll it yourself" crap, but that takes up a lot of time.
By the time you rolled 4 smokes, you have already smoked 3 of them.
The Govt needs to leave the Smokers alone, We have been crapped on enough by those bastards.

here in australia the tax went up 40% overnight for all cigarette brands, average of $10 higher per 50gram pouch.
Also cannot grow your own and so many laws on public places where smoking is not permitted including bars and clubs and many other restrictions placed on those who wish to smoke. It just seems that the smokers always get the raw end of these hikes and practices the ptb bring about.

reply to post by LordBucket


Try doing a little research yourself. A simple Google search shows that Bugler is a product of the Reynolds American Co. (R J Reynolds is a subsidiary) Source. Same tobacco as the prerolled, and I'll bet the same additives.

You should now understand the meaning of the word irony. But thanks for the laugh!

People will get their smokes illegally, and someone will profit off it.
Then there will be another 1930's style war add cigarettes minus alcohol.
People will die just because the US needs to make a profit.
I see no difference in their thinking, all is business as usual.

I smoked for 10 years, but I haven't smoked in 5 months now.

The price was a huge reason, also the fire safe crap they forced on us was giving me headaches.

In Dubai you can get cartons of Marlboro lights for $15/each. I bought about 12 cartons home, smoked them up and quit.

I'm not paying the insane prices here, and smoking fire safe smokes.

I miss certain aspects of smoking, but overall my quality of life is much better now. Now I smell smokers walk by and can't believe I used to smell that bad.

I remember when i was starting smoking as a kid 15 years ago, pack of Marlboro was around 2$.

Now it's 4$ here and they sell Dutch Marlboro and it tastes almost bad as Italian. wish i could buy English ones, or US

wish i had some Indian tribe here....
but instead I can buy bosnian and chinese fakes

and for the end: I agree with poster who said when taxes go too high it only damages the state.

When the prices went suddenly high it only went on hand of smugglers.
Taxes went high and alot of people here went for smuggled and faked cigs.

And too fool people or himself i'm not sure, imbecil minister of health declared that taxes were success while even bigger imbecil minister of finances dreamed of killing him.

Smoking taxes are best cash producing for state. when they stop coming, lack of cash can be serious fund problem.

i think its the governments plan to treat smokers inhumane
and get everyone else to treat them poorly
because if they can get you to hate your fellow human for something so simple

they can get you to hate anyone for any reason

allot of people get a big smile on there face to see smokers outside in the rain and snow freezing and getting sick

they have been very successful at getting everyone to treat smokers poorly and in the meanwhile laughing there way to the bank

in alberta canada they make a pack of smokes for 1.31 a pack and sell them for around 12 - 13 dollars thats atleast 10 - 11 dollars tax a package

that is crazy there should be a law never allowing the government to tax more on a product than it even costs to produce it

In my opinion it is discrimination.

There isn't any excuse for it either.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts

Bugler is a product of the Reynolds American Co.

I'm not sure what your point is. "Who owns whom" isn't relevant. Ingredients are relevant.

However...following from your link to the roll your own wiki page, I see the following:

Content from external ource:
premium additive free products are available[2]

Meanwhile, here is the list of additives that may be added to cigarettes.

So if you get additive-free pure tobacco and roll your own cigarettes with it, presumably you won't be smoking the additives in machine rolled cigarretes.

Try doing a little research yourself.
But thanks for the laugh!

Sometimes people are so eager to find excuses to feel better than others that they don't take the time to bother reading their own links.

*shrug*

i can't believe you think the solution to high prices is to make tabacoo illeagal.... are you seriously retarded.... oh well did you think that the bootlegers weren't going to start making money off it if it were illegal... maybe the mexican drug cartels can start smuggling it into the US,... and the idea to limit another personal freedumb...?

Personally as a smoker FAH Q...... and keep your solutions out of the state of texas... please, oh and louisiana. they're still paying 4.5 dollars for premuim cigarettes, you already quit smoking why be further concerned....? oh wait somebody in your family died from a smoking related illness huh... Fuc|