When will the government ban cigarettes outright?

[Pop_Rivit]

Smoking is a disgusting habit but that’s not my issue with smokers. I simply don't want to pay for smokers poor health choices. Same goes with people that eat fast foods, are obese or otherwise don't take responsibility for their health.

At 64 both my wife and me only need wellness health care visits and don't have to gulp handfuls of pills for blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes or other self-inflicted health problems. We actively manage our health and we both are in great physical shape. We exercise daily and are very active. We see others our age and younger that, because of their health choices can’t exercise, can’t walk, are obese, can’t catch their breath and have a host of other self-inflicted health issues.

However, rather than be rewarded for maintaining our health we're grouped in the same insurance risk pool as people who are obese, diabetic, smoke, don't exercise and are too lazy to take care of themselves. I pay inflated rates for health care because of others irresponsible health care choices. Therefore, I have no problem with high taxes on smoking materials, fast foods, alcohol consumption and other poor health choices as long as those tax dollars help relieve the financial burden that those who take care of themselves are forced to shoulder.

 

[firemachine69]

As mentioned elsewhere, never.

I fully support smokers in their own places. If they're not harming me, what right have I to tell them no? It's just like my guns, without getting too into the "P" of things, if they don't hurt you (and never will), why would you demonize them so much?

 

[Cutehumor]

Pop_Rivit is right. it's affecting my wallet with higher health insurance premiums!

 

[jmac]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Pop_Rivit is right. it's affecting my wallet with higher health insurance premiums!


So are fat people, when will you start lobbying for a fat tax?
So are skiers, mountain climbers, motorcycle riders, runners, bike riders, football players, when will you call for a dangerous activities tax?

 

[Cutehumor]

I would support a fat tax! Weight is big issue and I bet we will have some discrimination lawsuits because of it. dangerous activities tax, sure if you catch people doing it. can't catch every moron who jumps off a cliff!

 

[tig1]

Since motor oil causes polution I say tax put a $5.00 a qt. new tax that.

 

[Cutehumor]

motor oil? that's small potatoes. I was thinking about gas guzzler taxes on vehicles with less than 25mpg

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Since motor oil causes polution I say tax put a $5.00 a qt. new tax that.



We're already at a buck a quart in Ontario...

 

[Schmoe]

Ah, the self rightous live on BITOG as well. I guess we've forgotten about other peoples rights? Taxation without fair representation? So, they raise smokers taxes astronomically to pay for.....some health care system that is not for lower income families, but for those that make up to about 80K a year. I just don't get it, how in the #ell can you fund something from a declining funding source? If we were all like pop rivit, we'd all have it made. So, smoking kills more people than alcohol? No. Kills more than obesity? No. In case you have'nt looked around, there are a LOT of obese folks here. Ever go to Walmart and see who is on those electric scooters? It ain't skinny people. In tune with pop rivits ideologies, being fat is a CHOICE, as with smoking. I believe it's easier to lose weight than to quit smoking. So, with that thinking in mind, I am too mad as #ell that my insurance premiums are increased because of fat people. I'm not fat, so therefore, I shouldn't be paying for an increase in health premiums, sooooo, I'll just find another provider. Again, your choice.
The cow tax that some are talking about here is actually coming from EPA. They want to tax the cows because they burp out green house gases. The next move by congress on tobacco is going to be a.) eliminating USPS transport of tobacco and b.) let FDA control it. It's coming and already in the books. This will end up like prohibition, it will only make the crooks richer.
...medical proof out there that it is a toxin....well, #ell, tell me something that isn't a toxin? You breath toxins every minute of your life, thanks to the chemical revolution that started right after WWII. Everything you breath, touch, smell, feel and EAT are laden with chemicals and they are continously off gassing. That "new" car smell? Volitile Organic Chemicals. Siding on your house? PVC. Seen today's headlines, baby formula contains peroxides? You got vinyl flooring in your house? The clothes you were have been dyed. I could go on and on but you can't just balantly say, the tabacco is the black hole in our medical system.

 

[Cutehumor]

Schmoe,

has anyone ever died from those other toxins/chemicals and chose to get those toxins every day?

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
you can't just balantly say, the tabacco is the black hole in our medical system.

No one said it's the black hole. They said it's a black hole, and like all black holes, it is being regulated.

 

[eljefino]

My dad is a teacher and rather a jerk. (sorry) He did well in school and thinks all the kids who don't learn as well "just need to put their minds to it." I see this same self righteous attitudes applied from non-smokers to smokers, thin people to fat, etc.

We all have our vices.

Yes skinny healthy joggers subsidize diabetics who got it through their largeness, by paying the same health insurance premiums.

But then doctors pay 30x the income tax of those joggers and subsidize, oh, the roads they run on.

It all comes around. As Gary Allen often says the costs will inevitably trickle down to the producers.

My state bumps the cigg tax one year, booze the next, then soda & chips the third. They never do 'em all at once b/c it'd never fly. I vote against all of them on general principles, not my own opinions or habits.

For a while I was amazed at how cheap and untaxed loose tobacco was. A coworker rolled his own with a cute machine during downtime. Good for him, I think (thought?) for beating the system.

They'll get rid of ciggs and their taxes when they get rid of state lotteries... never!! Too reliable a revenue stream. My props to Utah, the only state that manages to avoid state-sponsored gambling.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: TurboLuver
I agree 100% on taxing fast food, if they are going to tax tobacco in such a way it's only fair.


Sure, I support that too, along with women's clothing so my wife won't spend so much time shopping when there are no deals around.

 

[Schmoe]

Oh, but they have. Millions. It's a synergistic affect. Same as smoking, one cigarette won't kill you, but over time, it might. How do you explain those individuals that don't smoke, don't drink, eat healthy, etc. etc. that develope a cancer for some unknown reason? As far as choices, it was their decision to chose that lifestyle. Could have moved out in the country, built a log cabin, etc. etc. and been totally chemically free. They could have done that. We all have choices.

 

[Cutehumor]

I thought you were going to say, my dad lived until he was 81 and he smoked two packs a day since he was 12.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I thought you were going to say, my dad lived until he was 81 and he smoked two packs a day since he was 12.

Maybe without that 2 packs a day he could live until he was 102.

Retirement salesman always said that the #1 way to reduce your retirement requirement is smoking, so you will die younger. You will always find exception to the rule but over a sample size of a few millions, statistic don't lie.

 

[kreigle]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Maybe without that 2 packs a day he could live until he was 102.


Maybe he could have been hit by a bus and spend the rest of his life in a coma.

Maybe the cigs allowed him to relax and reduce his stress level, preventing an early heart attack.

I could go on....

Since nobody can predict how someone's life could have turned out, "What if's" are only wishful thinking that make someone feel good about trying to chage someone else's life.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I used to smoke a pipe, oh, two or three times a week. It was not only the very mild physiological lift I got (mild because you don't inhale pipe smoke -- not if you're smart), but the beauty of the carved pipe and the aroma of the tobacco. People always told me how good my pipe smelled.

Well, I lost interest in the whole business a few years ago. Now I know I'll never go back to it.

But laws like these will only serve to create a black market and an even more lucrative system of smuggling.

 

[Mr Nice]

Quote:
Tobacco will never be banned as government makes too much money on it.

Yep and the government really doesn't care if your lungs/gums turn black as long as you keep buying tobacco products.

 

[Mr Nice]

Just ask yourself the most important question....more important the the smoker's health, gums/lungs and brown teeth....

How many millions of tax dollars our government collects on Tobacco each year ?