Since taxes on tobacco don't even begin to cover all the medical expenses of people who get sick from smoking,

Question

isn't the government losing money? Of course, if it cancelled all tobacco taxes, the smokers would be getting a free ride.
Persons with bodies weakened by smoking, get all kinds of diseases and ailments. Should tobacco taxes be raised 10 times to pay more of their medical bills that now fall upon the non-smoking public?

Answer 1

Actually if all the people quit smoking the government would lose money then. Smoking decreases the population and also makes jobs such not only in the tobacco industry but also in the health care fields, research, funeral industry, ad agencies. If we did not have a certain amount of deaths the government would be responsible for the upkeep of these citizens not to mention the overpopulation and the lack of resources etc.

Answer 2

Governments in Australia (where I live) have become hugely dependent on taxes from gambling, smoking and drinking.

It's ironic that a lot of the money raised from these taxes is also used for education campaigns on the evils of smoking, drinking and gambling.

But, people seem to like it that way ~ it's not an issue which seems to raise much anger or even interest in the community generally. Maybe people feel it balances out somehow?

Certainly, the money we pay in taxes on petrol (gas) isn't used to make public transport better, cheaper or more available, and that gets a LOT more attention!

However, as a former smoker, I think it's also fair to mention that while I paid taxes on cigarettes when I smoked, I ALSO paid taxes on my wage just like everyone else, so I never felt like I was getting a 'free' ride.

Most people would be in the same position.

It is interesting that cigarette taces (and huge price increases over the last few years) does not seem to have decreased the numbers of young people smoking (particularly women)!

Older people are stopping smoking in larger numbers, though, mainly for health reasons.

Is it one more rite of passage young people put themselves through, or are they conned as we were that smoking will make them feel and be cooler, sexier, etc?

Hard to tell at this distance, but I reckon most of them ~ like me, will wish they'd never started and one day realise it's not worth it, even if it was free!

Cheers :-)

Answer 3

This is why I like living in the US, where the government doesn't have complete control over their people because of economic reasons.
Obviously, if your communist country does pay for everything(including health care), then it will be a matter of time before the communist government controls what you can and can't do. Your government is going to tell you what to eat, how many hours to sleep a day, that you can't smoke, you can't drink, you have to double tie your shoes so you don't trip over them, and ....

The best thing to do, is to require the tobacco companies to disclose their processes for the tobacco, and if there are poisons and excess nicotine above what normal tobacco has, the government should make guidelines to thwart the exploitation of the people

Answer 4

The Revolutionary War was paid for by tobacco money. The government has taxed tobacco since the beginning of the country and has made more money from tobacco than the tobacco companies. The tobacco companies were forced to settle a lawsuit with the states for billions of dollars. NONE OF THIS MONEY WAS USED AS INTENDED.
Cigarettes are one of the most heavily taxed consumer products in the United States, and excise taxes on cigarettes are much higher than excise taxes on other age-restricted products. In most states, there is a wide gap between the level of excise taxes paid on beer and wine compared to the level of excise taxes on cigarettes. In Wyoming, you can buy 533 six-packs of beer, and still pay less excise tax than you would pay on only one carton of cigarettes. In New York, you can buy 398 bottles of wine – more than 33 cases – and pay less excise tax than for one carton of cigarettes. Smokers make up about 20.5 percent of the U.S. adult population, and they are already paying more than their fair share of the tax burden. The government makes more money off cigarettes per minute than the average family makes in a year. Federal taxes on cigarettes have increased 62.5 percent since 2000. Yet proposals to further increase cigarette taxes are made each year – usually to fund new or expanded government programs UNRELATED TO TOBACCO CONTROL. Raising cigarette taxes perpetuates the hypocrisy of "politically correct" tax profiling of adult smokers. The estimated weighted average state excise tax on cigarettes as of July 2007 was 78.5 cents per pack, and the federal government levies an additional 39 cents per pack. Federal, state and municipal excise taxes on cigarettes for the fiscal year ending June 2006 amounted to nearly $22 billion. This is not a fair way to tax cigarettes or the adults who smoke them. It's time to end the hypocrisy of tobacco excise taxes and spread the tax burden more fairly.

Answer 5

Who says the money from tobacco taxes is going to tobacco related illnesses?

It probably should.

Answer 6

They don't use tobacco taxes to pay for medical expenses, well at least not in America.

Why don't they tax tanning beds so they can pay for all the people getting skin cancer... geesh

Answer 7

Let's talk about eating & obesity

Should overweight people not be allowed to eat food? Or should they pay more money for their food than people that are not overweight?

Answer 8

Stop whining about cigarettes. You do realize this country was founded by coffee and tobacco? Stop being a terrorist, light up a smoke, and be a patriot.

Answer 9

yeah that way poor people will be poorer....then we can give them more welfare to help them out....

what needs to be done is the tobacco companies need to underwrite insurance policies for the smokers they kill.....

Answer 10

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