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Updated: 9:55 PM Jan 13, 2009
Another Push For Hiking The Cigarette Tax
Florida received three F’s for its efforts to stop smoking in a report card released today by the American Lung Association. The report claims the state’s 34 cent cigarette tax doesn’t provide enough financial incentive for people to stop smoking. Posted: 9:55 PM Jan 13, 2009Reporter: Whitney Ray  American Lung Assoc. |
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The anti-smokers are guilty of flagrant scientific fraud for ignoring more than 50 studies, which show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. Passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus, so the anti-smokers' studies, because they are all based on nothing but lifestyle questionnaires, have been cynically DESIGNED to falsely blame passive smoking for all those extra lung cancers that are really caused by HPV. http://www.smokershistory.com/hpvlungc.htm The anti-smokers have committed the same type of fraud with every disease they blame on smoking and passive smoking, as well as ignoring other types of evidence that proves they are lying, such as the fact that the death rates from asthma have more than doubled since their movement began. http://www.smokershistory.com/newviews.htm
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we are all being taxed, who do you think is paying for all the costs for medicade due to medical expences and related costs for this expensive habit (addiction).
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This isn't about trying to protect people's health. It is taxing a minorty group to pay for the entire population's problems. Selective taxation without representation in government is a Constitutional violation. Raise the sales tax so everyone pays their fair share.
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they need to raise the price to ten dollars a pack. smokeing nearly cost me my life. the need for a smoke might diminish somewhat at that price.
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If smoking is so bad why don't they just outlaw them and be done with it?
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Also, my mother died of copd in 1995, try watching that, my father coughed up his lungs for 15 months back in 1976 before he died of lung cancer. The cost of medical care is off the map.
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Here we go doing a "sin" tax on the poor and lower middle class people that still enjoy smoking.Next is beer&alcohol then to extremes...high tax on fatty foods so fat people pay more taxes??Come on State of Florida,get real and do a 1 cent sales tax and be done with it.Everyone would have to pay it each time they checked out at a register.How easy is that to raise money??
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while you are trying to raise the cigarette tax to stop people from smoking for medical reason's you should also raise the alcohol tax to. A lot of people drink and due to drinking also have a lot of medical problems that the state and private insurance companies have to pay for. I have never heard of anyone being locked up for smoking and driving or having a wreck and killing someone due to smoking a cigarette while driving. I guess certain Government and private organizations will not address the alcohol tax because they will have to pay more to have a drink. I do not drink and quit smoking 6 years ago so the tax will not affect me.
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You know, my mother smoked for 41 yrs. She LOVED everything about smoking. Said it was her only "vice." Well, ask her how she likes it now...she died 6 mos ago from Lung Cancer and Lymphoma. She didn't deserve the agony and suffering that came from cancer. It was made worse by the hideous oncologist and radiologist who took care of her. I know it's tough, I know you might love it...but....you will leave a beautiful family behind if you don't quit. I wouldn't wish my mother's suffering, agony, and death on my worst enemy. Her lung doc was right. He said, "If you smoke, you WILL die from it." While I do not like the idea of govt taxing things like cigarettes, etc., maybe it will help cut down on the number of deaths.
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Forget the smokes tax. Lets go back 100 years and tax personal property (Beds, sofa tv's etc.) and don't forget the pet/livestock tax. Or how about parking meters in grocery store or mall parking lots. There are plenty of ways to generate revenue other than sin taxes. Maybe we can start requiring employees to buy a work permit.. Oh well, good thing I'm unemployed. I know YA'LL will figure what's best for ME.
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my husband will not quit, he likes everything about smoking, it does not matter how much you tax them, go figure? I've tried everything nagging, bxtxhing, crying, being civil,suggesting hypnosis.
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Why don't y'all ask Massachusetts how well their "sin tax" on cigarettes went. A pack up there now costs $7.00. Everyone who still smokes goes to New Hampshire to buy cigarettes and Massachusetts remains $152 billion in debt, because the State spent additional money in anticipation of the revenue from the cigarette tax. It's a classic case of government taking the easy way out. It didn't work there, what makes anyone believe that it will work here.
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I say give up the report card. If they want to smoke and apparently they do, leave them alone. Take that $60 million constitutionally mandated for a program of this type in each State and use it for something more worth while, to help get America out of debt. If you want help, you can get it, but if you do not leave the lost cause alone. I wanted to quit and have been for over 10 years. If people knew how much of that money was spent for salaries and junk not used they would understand where the money goes and why the report card says "F". Been there, done that.
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The problem I see is that govt then would have no incentive to outlaw or ban cigarettes which is the only good solution to the problem. I don't know of any other carcinoges that are legal to ingest.
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So if this actually worked and Florida has a number of people quit smoking because of it, where will the state go for that lost tax revenue? Surely they will not just take the loss, it will be passed on to everyone else in some way.
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