However you may feel about cigarettes and smoking, the new federal tobacco taxshould appear excessive.
The new tax which will be effective April 1st will increase the price of tobacco by the pound. According to CVS employees and The Pipe Den, a local tobacco store here in Vero Beach, Fl, some companies have already raised the prices for their products and are currently selling them for an exaggerated prices, while the price will go up to around 50 dollars a pound.
I bought one of these such products today: a tin of Bugler tabacco. I began rolling my own cigarettes while living in upstate New York due to the incredibly high taxes there (the highest of all the states); by doing so, I saved a decent amount of money and began smoking less. The price I have typically paid for a tin was around 13-15 dollars; meanwhile the cost I paid today was 32 dollars: that id well over a 100% increase. These taxes will be higher than those I faced in New York!
Apparently, this new tax is a move by Obama to raise money (33 billion) for a new health initiative for children’s health care, with a side gain of increasing the quit rate among tobacco users.
I do not miss the nobility of such a move; however, I feel, it is very misguided. Smokers will not quit simply because the price has gone up– and this is exactly why they expect to obtain 33 billion from this endeavor– for the smoker it is about an addiction that they MUST pacify, whole with withdrawal that is incredibly uncomfortable. Furthermore, there have been studies that have shown that nicotine is a more addictive drug than heroin. Think about it, if the street price of heroin was raised would addicts stop shooting up? Of course not.
Another factor that just sickens me about this is that the prices will be raised to such a ridiculous price, with people left with no choice but to pay, during an economic recession. This doesn’t help anyone: most people are not happy to be smoking, but need to smoke and arguing against this point is null.
Smoking is a bad choice, but at some point it stops becoming a choice and quitting can interfere greatly in ones life (that is, it is important to find a right time to quit that will have a better chance of being successful). Furthermore, multiple relapses are inevitable in most cases so, while quitting and relapsing, the addict must shell out these exorbitant costs.
My last word on this points back to when the tax on tea and other products was once raised in the American colonies by Britain: what did we do then? Or, how about when alcohol was prohibited? The simple fact of the matter, is that the federal government has no right to enforce such an opressive tax. Where is the capitalistic freedom political patriots so often like to tout: I guess the free market isn’t so free when an individual chooses to freely buy a product some find distateful. Well, I’m sorry but this is self-righteous, especially from a President who used to smoke and still occasionally gets caught doing so.
I’m already hurting in these troubling times. I say we start smuggling and have a new tea party (and by that I mean an illegal act of civil disobedience, not the ordered activism of a group of people who would look at horror upon such an act).
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Bravo for this post. However, I am actually thinking about quitting, starting tomorrow in fact. Not wholly due to the price thing, but that’s weighing in on my decision. A pack of Marlboro’s from 7-11 cost me over $5 today. That’s insane. The federal tax is only going up sixty-something cents, but these retailers (and, I’m assuming, this is probably coming down from somewhere higher) are using it as an opportunity to bilk the shit out of their customers. Why? Because of the very reasons you mention. Smokers (by and large) won’t quit due to prices, and the majority of the nonsmoking population doesn’t care (or worse, thinks it’s about time).
And you know what else is expensive as hell? Nicotine friggin gum!
thanks. I wish I could quit… roomate smokes. yeah it’s a self-righteous crusade by non-smokers. we’ll get ****ed either way: government or the tobacco companies, but I never thought nanywhere near this bad. Obama this is not what you were voted in for and just because you kicked the habit– you hypocrite– doesn’t mean those still suffering should be further punished.
This is the best news I ever heard of!
http://www.thisisawebsite.info/2009/03/30/new-tobacco-tax/
This comment above by Zack is a link to a pro tobacco tax blog…. it has a picture of Tiny Tim (an obvious and ridiculous play on emotions there) and states that he couldn’t get the surgery he needed because smokers wanted cheap cigarettes. I can’t tell you how many logical flaws are presented in this short peice; however, here was my response on his page:
First off, I can do what I will with my body. Secondly, no one consumes my second hand smoke unless they choose to come hang out at my house. Lastly, that kid can’t afford health insurance because capitalistic bastards would rather rape his parent by charging crazy prices for health insurance only to turn around and deny that kid surgery because it isn’t covered under their loophole clauses. Furthermore, with this new tax in place, if you truly cared about Tiny Tim there , you’d start smoking to help raise the 33 billion that will help to cover his surgery. We should be attacking HMO companies not nicotine addicts.
I’m diggin’ the allusion to the Tea Party. It all does seem eerily familiar, doesn’t it?
I’m not a smoker myself, but I still think it’s outrageously unfair, but then, it’s one of those things that sort of guilts you into agreeing with it.
“Oh, so you’d rather let nicotine-addicts get their fix than benefit sick children?” It’s really hard sometimes logically present yourself against that when they’re ringing morality in your face.
And of course, most of the people arguing against this tax are the smokers, which doesn’t really help, ’cause then you have people like my parents who are tooting the Obama horn saying he’s just full of great ideas benefiting society.
Catch-22. There’s no real way around it, at this point.
And I completely forgot he used to smoke as well, didn’t he? Hypocrite indeed…
Ugh. Made it six hours. Oh well. Maybe next week.
yeah fuck em feed em beans, i smoke and i guess when i start getting them from out of country by mail they can start another war on drugs against it too
Decades ago the tobacco industry genetically altered tabacco to have hired nicotine concentrations. The bathe the tabacco in chemicals to increase the addictive affect of the nicotine. You know it.I know it. The fda knows it. What pisses me off is the fda closed their eyes and let the tobacco industry make a harmful product 100 times more harmful. WHY? GREED OF THE FEW. Whether it be oil, tabacco or pork in our legislative bills, Greed Rules!
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I went to get tobocco she said 27.99$ thats up from 8.00$ a week ago . The tax should of added 9.00$ were did the other 10.00$ come from. ? about half of the online smokes stores Closed lost a few jobs .Well I emailed the pres. I feel it’s ether a wast of time or the black SUV’s will be here soon…
well, thats what I’m screaming: the tax was only minimal on packs of cigarettes, but rolling tobacco went up way farther than it should have. There is a reason that I was given for this: previous tax hikes on tobacco did not effect rolling tobacco and other tobacco related products. In order to rectify this, apparently, this new tax addresses this and makes it proportionate. personally, I think it’s a load of crap. They know that when tobacco taxes get too high (as in NY) many smokers switch to rolling tobacco in order to save money. Apparently, smokers need to be treaded like misbehaving children. One tactic didn’t increase the quit rate, so its being attributed to the fact the rolling tobacco is cheaper. This being the case, they raise the price of rolling tobacco as a slap on the wrist. Or, since they know people switch to rolling tobacco when tax hikes occur, and rolling tobacco wasn’t as heavily taxed…. so, therefore, they raise the tax on rolling tobacco in order to maximize tax profits. Either way ytou look at it, it’s a douchy move.
OH yes when is the tea party?
Excellent post!!!! Does anybody know if this “children’s health fund” actually exist? Or did our political leaders lie to us again!!
Not sure about other states but here in OK we have soonercare for children of low income families.