Smokers Targeted Again! Cigarette's have been Taxed 73 Times Since 2000
Yes, I am a smoker. There have been times in my life when I did not smoke. Pregnancy was one of those times. You might think that I am only writing this because I don't want to pay an additional $.61 per pack. This is partially true. I do however know that I would still write this if I did not smoke cigarettes.
I do understand that smoking is not the healthiest thing for a person to do. There are risks of lung cancer. That is a decision that is made by the person who decided to light up. There are however a lot of things that are unhealthy. Not just smoking. I guarantee that many non-smokers participate in something that is unhealthy each day. Maybe we need to place an additional tax on soda, chips, and alcohol. Again it just seems unfair to target one group of people just because they don't like smoking. Some people may think that by raising the tax on cigarettes that a lot of people will quit. That is probably 100% true. But that decision should still be made by the individual because they want to.
More than just smokers will be affected if this raise in tax is approved. Cigarette consumption will decrease. This could cause more problems for the economy. There could be layoffs. Businesses may lose money. There could be a problem with cigarettes being bought illegally. The government will probably see less in money once the sale of cigarettes decreases than they are getting now.
I have heard people say that "You are a smoker so you will pay the additional amount anyways." This is not true. Many people are having a hard enough time trying to make ends meet. There will be many smokers that will be unable to afford the increase. Specially if there is more than one person in the household that smokes.
The government may have very notable ways to spend the additional amount of money that they would be making. I am not in any way against that. We do need spend more on health care and schooling then we do now. The USA has always been very good at helping other countries but not always with what we need here. That is why I still say we should increase taxes on something that everyone uses. This would turn out to be way more profitable. But again that is only my opinion.
Just because you don't smoke doesn't make it right to vote yes. Try to think about it from both sides before you make a decision. Write your legislators if you wish to be heard on this subject.
I know I am going to. I want to be able to decide for myself when the right time is to quit. We do have the freedom of speech!!
Published by Amy Hartwig
32yr old Female. Working Mother of one. Married for 9 years View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentIf a person wants to smoke, thats their business, not the goverments. Stop all the stupid taxes,
Way back when, this country started on the road to independence with a little hoedown called the Boston Tea Party. There were some folks who objected to - you guessed it - taxes! Now our own government wants the smokers of the nation to shoulder yet another tax all by themselves.
For a change, why not tax all the obese, maybe they'll stop eating. Maybe all those who go to church, I hear martyrdom is good for the soul. Let's add the acoholics so they'll stop drinking. Pet owners, that will reduce the number of unwanted dogs and cats. Home owners, so they'll reduce the amount of vacant apartments. Renters, so they can buy all those empty houses. Did I leave anybody out? If so, I apologise.
The point being, if the goverment wants to raise more money (and when did it not) they better tax everyone equally. We have too much government in our lives as it is, and we are rapidly sliding into a police state. They already tried prohibition, it failed miserably. We can't allow