Smokers feeling abused as federal tax hike hits

Originally posted by grover


I don't want to see it made illegal... it wouldn't work any better than the war on drugs or prohibition but I wouldn't mind seeing it stopped being produced commerically... if you wanted to smoke you'd have to grow your own.

Nicotine is nasty crap... it's a deadly poison literally and is used in insecticides and is suspected in the decline of bees. It poisons the soil its grown in or sprayed on... I could go on but I am not.

I agree with you on stopping it commercially (unless they can force an end to the additives) but theyre not gonna let us grow our own, they'd lose too much money. I too wish i had never started.

Yes nicotine is a nasty thing and harms many in many ways, cigarettes harm many, even those that don't smoke. However that doesn't make it right to tax the hell out of smokers when what they should be doing is putting restrictions on the tobacco companies about the additives.

Near as i can figure, here in Chicago smokers pay $46.78 tax on a carton of cigarettes. That's damn near 100% tax, (what else gets taxed at the rate of 100%) that's just ludicrous and just plain wrong!

And since they seem to justify this by sayin it damages people's health (even non smokers) then maybe they should take a look into how many asthmatics are sent into a full blown asthma attack because they are forced to breathe in someone's perfume or colonge and start taxing the crap out of that.

reply to post by SemperParatusRJCC



Yeah i've been hearing a lot about the e-cigs, i saw something about it on a doctor's show. I think it's a good idea, mainly because you won't be inhaling all the tar and crap, and you won't effect others with your smoke. I believe they said they're allowed in the UK, but they won't be allowed here for at least another two years, gee i wonder why ?

Funny the government's biggest concern (or so they say) is the second hand smoke, if this was truely the case you'd think they'd allow them right away. Doesn't seem like they're truely interested in any type of a solution. They must be tryin to figure out how to tax us up the butt for those too before they approve them.

I'm sure that when they realize how many people are ordering them they'll impose some kind of excessive import tax on them.

I've been checking out a couple websites as i'm thinking about getting them too, i really don't need all that crap in my lungs, just can't seem to quit the nicotine.

Originally posted by Shadow_Lord

We are not being taxed without representation. Every state has a voice in the government. Every county has a voice in the state. If those people are not speaking for the general public, it is that person failing to do their job (seems common...).

Yes we are, the majority of politicians don't represent the American public anymore (and haven't for quite some time) they represent corporate america. Just look at the wall street bailout, check and see how many Americans were opposed to that, did they represent those of us (an overwhelming majority) that were against it ?

And i'm sorry, but when smokers are being taxed damn near 100% for cigarettes we sure as hell don't have any representation.

reply to post by chise61


Actually I can go down the street to the local seed store and buy tobacco seeds and plant them if I wanted to... there is no law against it.

reply to post by chise61


No they are allowed here. My friend jason has one. thats what gave me the idea to get one. he got me hooked on the thought. ^^ If you want I can give you a site for them

grover : Had to reply to one of my favorite posters.

I don't think anyone here is saying that smoking is a "good" thing.
Most are educated enough to know that it has a bad reputation.

However, it . .is . . not . . illegal.

Alcohol consumption is not illegal.

The extra burden of taxes for doing something that is still legal isn't right.

So, if I'm doing what a good citizen should do and abiding by the laws,
why should I get taxed into oblivion ?

What will be next ? A tax to check a book out of the library, because you
like to read ? A tax every other month on alcohol because you like to
imbibe adult beverages ?

A tax on tall people ? Short people ? Pet owners ? Twinkie lovers ?

reply to post by SIEGE


Well I look at it this way... smoking is extremely bad for you and it is a terrible drain on the economy (loss of productivity etc) when you add up what is spent on COPD, cancer and the like so why not tax the crap out of it to encourage people to quit?

Personally I am in favor of legalizing EVERY drug out there on the streets... sell them through the ABC stores and the like... tax them up the ass and spend the money on education, rehab and other health related issues... it would take drugs out of the hands of the cartels and street gangs and since people are going to use them anyway at least the taxes would do some good.

I have absolutely no problem with this.

reply to post by larphillips


Please tell me I'm not the only one that is really damn sick of hearing about "the children". Guess what folks! If you can't take care of a child, DON'T HAVE ANY! I am a responsible, employed, married woman who does not have children (prefer dogs, thanks and it really burns me that my cigarettes are going to be taxed yet again, this time in a ruse to help the children (of which I want no part). Don't get me wrong, I do not encourage smoking and I'm well aware of the health implications so kindly spare me the rhetoric. It would be really be nice if they could rape tax something else for a change.........HOW ABOUT TAXING THE HELL OUT OF TOFU OR SOMETHING FFS!

I smoke and have had a hard time quitting. Putting the derogatory attitude aside towards smokers, I would love for them to make smokes $40 bucks a pack. Then I could really quit a lot easier.

Think about it. If smokes were so expensive, only the rich would have lung cancer from it. And I tell ya, I wouldn't be smoking anymore if I couldn't afford them.

Just my 2 cents. Either way it's a bad habit. Or more so a deadly one.
And if they were so taxed I imagine I would have more money since I would not be able to afford them.

I don't think taking the additives out is enough. If the tobacco companies disappeared I would have my withdrawals but after that I would be better off.

(Edit for grammar)

[edit on 2-4-2009 by N3krostatic]

reply to post by grover


I know there's not one now, i meant that if they stopped it commercially they would create a law, or tax for those that grew their own. We all know that they're not gonna give up the revenue from smokers that fast. The only reason they don't crack down on the additives that they themselves say are the problem is because of the money they get from it.

Originally posted by jackieps1975
reply to post by larphillips

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one that is really damn sick of hearing about "the children". Guess what folks! If you can't take care of a child, DON'T HAVE ANY! I am a responsible, employed, married woman who does not have children (prefer dogs, thanks

and it really burns me that my cigarettes are going to be taxed yet again, this time in a ruse to help the children (of which I want no part). Don't get me wrong, I do not encourage smoking and I'm well aware of the health implications so kindly spare me the rhetoric. It would be really be nice if they could rape tax something else for a change.........HOW ABOUT TAXING THE HELL OUT OF TOFU OR SOMETHING FFS!

tax the hell out of tofu. I like that. well the g20 was a bust i have a feeling the nwo is going to be soon. With a standardized currency taxes might actually go down. ^^

reply to post by jackieps1975


Well said. I especially liked the Tofu bit.
Makes you wonder what's coming next.

reply to post by SemperParatusRJCC


No i mean i don't think you can buy them here in America, From what i saw on the show they haven't been approved by the FDA yet and you can only buy them online, i was assuming from out of the country.

Sure give me a website, i've seen a couple, but i'm trying to find the best deal right now. Thanks.

reply to post by grover



We all know it's bad for us, but it's our decision to make, not other's to force down our throats. There are plenty of other things that are bad for people, but they're not taxing the crap out of any of those.

My smoking is not a drain on society. I've never lost a day of work due to my smoking, nor does anybody pay my medical bills.

Taxing the crap out of people doesn't encourage them to do anything except get extremely pissed off.

Originally posted by chise61

Since when is it your responsibility, or right to question what people do with their money? You're definition of being poor is just that, you're definition.

That's a very good point and one that the federal government should be reminded of. However, they seem hell-bent on telling us exactly how we should and should not spend our money lately.

In case you haven't noticed the rest of the nation doesn't have to foot the bill, as we do NOT have universal health care in this country. Nobody has to foot the bill for smokers health care except for smokers, if the need arises they can foot the bill with the enormous amount of taxes that smokers pay.

Why should smokers have to foot the bill for the healthcare of OTHER people's children? You believe that "the nation" shouldn't have to pay for smokers healthcare (which i agree with), but you think it's fine to fine to force smokers to pay for healthcare for children that are not theirs, what hypocracy

We don't have universal health care, YET.

Prior to electing Obama you didn't have a tax on tobacco that paid for children's health care insurance either. But he has repeatedly said that overhauling the health care system is a priority and while campaigning he unveiled a universal health care plan in which everyone shared the cost.

www.cbsnews.com...

In this article he promised it by the end of his first term.

www.suntimes.com...

As for whether I think it's right to tax tobacco like this - I don't agree with it, actually. But what I find absolutely astounding are the people here who I saw campaigning for Obama on ATS and now complaining that he's making good on the things some of us warned everyone about.

I wonder - how many of you who voted for the man would have changed your vote if you knew this tax hike was coming, and if you knew beforehand about some of the other things that have happened in the first 100 days?

[edit on 2-4-2009 by sos37]

Originally posted by Shadowflux
reply to post by johnsky

 

Thanks for the info, my brother doesn't have a computer so he is a bit of a slave to propaganda from time to time. As much as I like smoking I suppose I would be willing to give the e-cigs a shot as long as they're not more expensive than regular cigs.

They're more expensive to start, but much cheaper in the long run.

From what I've heard the e-cig is basically a small vaporizer, does this mean that one could put.....well...things other than nicotine in them?

I suppose it's possible to put something other than nicotine in them... but I wouldn't try it for fear of my safety.

I was contemplating a company using these things to administer pain killers quicker than the ingested form. You can get meds into your blood stream immediately through the lungs... perhaps one day someone will do it.

Do these light up when you drag on them like the Japanese ones do?

Every e-cig I have seen has an indicator light at the end to signify that it's vaporizing... otherwise, when the battery runs out, you wouldn't immediately know why it stopped working.

Mine is a little different than most. It's a black and gold e-cig with a blue indicator... what can I say, I like contrasting colors.

I've been running on the same 10ml bottle of nicotine refill for about a week and a half now, and I still have half of it left. The bottle cost me $12.
I have two atomizers I clean regularly, and they have yet to burn out... when they do, it will cost around $10 do replace one, considering the average life span for these things is two months... its easy to see how this thing pays for itself.


All we need to do now is find someone to fork over the funding for research so that the US FDA and Health Canada can finally tell everyone they're safe.

What they should do is make all tobacco products free and encourage everyone to smoke as much as possible, even kids. With exponentially more folks dying earlier, our Medicare and Social Security problems could be lessened!

Seriously, it is tough to quit. I tried several times a bunch of different ways and could not do it. Went on Chantix for 6 months and quit easily. If you want to quit, give it a try. I think the success rate is close to 50%

reply to post by skeptic1


Holy S***! Where do you all live? I am in NY and cartons are at least $80 for name brand. Keep in mind, this was BEFORE the new tax hit. In addition, we haven't been able to have online orders for cigarettes (from reservations and such) shipped to NY in a few years now. Talk about a police state....it truly is the worst! Moving back to the Northeast was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made in my life

reply to post by sos37


Yeah well that's what we're all complaining about, especially since we seem to always take the brunt of it. Maybe if they get enough tea bags they'll take notice before it's too late.

No we just had extreme taxes that apparently they needed to pay for everything else

Believe me i was well aware of his plans for national health care and many other things. I wasn't one of the ones campaigning for him, quite the opposite. I'm in Chicago and i know full well how poorly he did his job here, his saying one thing and voting another, or should i say not voting at all. I wrote in Ron Paul

And I thought this tax hike was just in Michigan. Ha. Its ridiculous. There charging 7 dollars for a pack of ciggarettes here now. Im highly considering quitting.

(Not to mention all the angry people who are ganna be forced to quit and be a really bad mood!)