What if cigarette taxes really made people quit?

[WebbPA]

Chinese ordered to smoke more to boost economy

Local government officials in China have been ordered to smoke nearly a quarter of a million packs of cigarettes in a move to boost the local economy during the global financial crisis.

The edict, issued by officials in Hubei province in central China, threatens to fine officials who "fail to meet their targets" or are caught smoking rival brands manufactured in neighbouring provinces.

Even local schools have been issued with a smoking quota for teachers, while one village was ordered to purchase 400 cartons of cigarettes a year for its officials, according to the local government's website.

The move, which flies in the face of national anti-smoking policies set in Beijing, is aimed at boosting tax revenues and protecting local manufacturers from outside competition from China's 100 cigarette makers ...

Despite anti-smoking campaigns, cigarette taxes form a major component of China's annual tax-take at local level ...

[ozzy72]

They'll have to remove the health warning "Living in a Communist Dictatorship can cause lung cancer"

[Romulus111VADT]

Well, I quit a year ago because of the cost....so it worked for me....

[ShaneG_old]

My wife & I quit 3 weeks ago because of the new tax.

Saving $10 a day!


365 x $10 =  $3,650! A trip to St. Marteen is closer than I thought.

[Romulus111VADT]

[quote]My wife & I quit 3 weeks ago because of the new tax.

Saving $10 a day!


365 x $10 =

[WebbPA]

That's not very patriotic of you.  You should smoke more so you can die younger (save social security and medicaid payments) and pay more taxes while you're alive.

I quit a couple of years ago but it wasn't over the taxes or the health issues.  A carton - a week's supply - was about $30 and I coughed up half a lung every morning but that didn't bother me because I enjoyed smoking so much.

I noticed my house, furniture and clothes stunk but that didn't matter because I was used to it.

Then a couple of women turned me down for dates with a look like, "Ew - you smoke."  Well, that did it.

Now a week's supply would cost about $50 (Florida is about to raise its tax by $1 a pack), I haven't coughed in as long as I can remember, my health insurance costs went down and my house smells clean.  I can smell a smoker from across the room and it doesn't smell good any more.

And women have to come up with more creative excuses.

[ozzy72]

Jim, you are a classy guy

[Romulus111VADT]

[quote]That's not very patriotic of you.

[a1]

Well I wouldn't have much of an opinion because I don't smoke and was raised in an environment where smoking was shunned.

[expat]

Well, I quit a year ago because of the cost....so it worked for me....

[quote]My wife & I quit 3 weeks ago because of the new tax.

Saving $10 a day!


365 x $10 =

[Alejandro Rhodes]

I started again in December after 5 years without smoking  ,Its worse when your back after quit
But this time I was smoking 2 packages of cigarettes per day , but some dictator other from the top  to raise the taxes to 3000% is like one day a package cost $1 and the day after cost $100
I couldn't afford that was the best way to quit smoking, the my PC room everything starting to smelling good again.
 

[Capt.Propwash]

i have been smoking for the past 15 years.  I can remember when the price of a pack of Marlboro "reds" or full flavors, was about $1.50 a pack.  Now, the price is over $4.80-5.00 a pack!!!!  Cartons back in the day were about $15.50 and now, they are close to $57.80!! HOLY CRAP!!

With these prices I am seriously cutting back (use to smoke upwards of 2 1/2 packs a day, now i can stretch 1 pack for a little more than 1 day).



Although the FEDs keep raising the price of Cigarettes to try and get people to quit because smoking caused lung cancer and 1000 other health problems...... (this is just my Venting Gripe..) but what in the name of the Good Lord is being done about Alcohol prices???

How many times have any of us read in the news paper that a group of college kids had a party and burned the house down (which happened in Myrtle Beach, SC just 2 hours from where I live) and local police believe that alcohol might have been an inhibitor that caused 3-4 people to be passed out and eventually DIE in the fire.  OR, how many DUI's does someone have to get before they hit another car killing a family or themselves before the GOVERNMENT does something about it????

Yeah, lets keep kids from smoking so they dont get cancer, but DO let us allow our young ones to drink and possibly kill themselves or others.. before making the price where they cant buy that either.

How many times have you heard of someone Dieing from cancer or even just lighting a smoke while trying to drive a car, or killing themselves or someone else???   ---------- How many times do we hear about someone hitting a tree or killing someone else in a carwreck cause they were either Drunk, or were drinking while they were driving???  

Which is more dangerous?? Smoking? or Alcohol poisioning / liver damage / DUI Leading to someones death????




Might as well make the price of 1 pack $200 in every state and that is for the cheapest off brand smoke someone can buy!!!!

[Romulus111VADT]

Strange part is, tobacco made Virginia, North and South Carolina into the states they are today. Now they are trying to kill the cash cow. Most states tobacco farmers are turning to other sources of income like grape vines for the wine industry.

Now Virginia and North Carolina are trying to raise the taxes on Wine, beer and liquor. They refer to it as a "sin tax".

So after the states put tobacco and alcohol out of business. Don't be surprised if you here of some drunk going through the DT's and having a nicotine fit going postal on the source of their agony.

[flyboy 28]

With the recent increase in NJ tobacco tax, my Parliaments just went up to $8.75 a pack at the local convience store. Been regularly smoking a pack every two days for the last three years, and with the average price for the time I've smoked being around $6, it seems I've blown close to $3,300 on cigarettes.

I was planning on quitting once I got in to the navy, but since that's been put on hold so has my reason to quit. It's a terrible uphill battle trying to quit, and not a night goes by where I wake up hacking up a different, dark shade of the rainbow. Probably the biggest mistake I've made in my short life, and I hope I can cut it out before it's too late.

Regarding the topic, it sure hasn't deterred me from lighting up.

Now I want a cigarette.  :-[