Smoking tax raised
Nicholas Francis
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Opinion
A common argument among people in favor of cigarette-tax increases is that if cigarettes cost more, young people would smoke less.
Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of age demographics and their relationship to economic spending habits knows that young people have more disposable income per capita than any other group. This is why higher cigarette prices are not effective in regards to curbing youth smoking.
As a matter of fact, price increases don't deter adults from imbibing in vice either.
If government interaction and increases in the prices of unfavorable products actually stopped being from doing things, the United States would be completely devoid of cocaine, crack, heroin and other dangerous drugs.
Our government needs to learn to respect its citizens, no matter what they choose to put in their bodies. Although smokers are a minority there are still a lot of them. If the government ever made restrictions too hard on smokers, it wouldn't be very hard for them to stage an uprising. Smokers already have lighters for their torches, so all they would have to do is go home to get their pitchforks.
Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of age demographics and their relationship to economic spending habits knows that young people have more disposable income per capita than any other group. This is why higher cigarette prices are not effective in regards to curbing youth smoking.
As a matter of fact, price increases don't deter adults from imbibing in vice either.
If government interaction and increases in the prices of unfavorable products actually stopped being from doing things, the United States would be completely devoid of cocaine, crack, heroin and other dangerous drugs.
Our government needs to learn to respect its citizens, no matter what they choose to put in their bodies. Although smokers are a minority there are still a lot of them. If the government ever made restrictions too hard on smokers, it wouldn't be very hard for them to stage an uprising. Smokers already have lighters for their torches, so all they would have to do is go home to get their pitchforks.
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