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643 Comments
- vault, on 07/04/2009, -3/+371This is about Australia, not the US.
- angusware, on 07/05/2009, -27/+247Because in a country like Australia where there is public healthcare, everyone else pays for your lung cancer treatment.
- maz2331, on 07/04/2009, -21/+216No, we'll start serious black-market activity first or grow our own tobacco.
- szurgot, on 07/04/2009, -56/+176I don't smoke but this is insane. It's a personal choice why do people get so up in arms about it? Yes it isn't good for you but who the hell really cares.
- Aorawn, on 07/05/2009, -37/+149Smoking's gross, you should quit anyway.
- ThatsNotPudding, on 07/04/2009, -15/+123\Organized crime slowly nods in approval
- bugalou, on 07/05/2009, -7/+86I am going to start counting the retards that start posting bitchy comments assuming this article is about the US because they didn't read the article and are just assuming its the US.
- rwiggum, on 07/05/2009, -5/+83He just wanted to point that out before everyone started saying "GODDAMN THAT SOCIALIST OBAMA TAX AND SPEND MUSLIM BILL AYERS KEITH OLBERMANN FLAG PIN GUN-TAKER."
- iizh, on 07/05/2009, -25/+99But they die much sooner than non-smokers and thus avoid many old age complications that public healthcare also funds. Smokers may cost the public less overall. Are there any statistics on this?
- Awwzm, on 07/04/2009, -1/+72About $16 US
- ceredron, on 07/05/2009, -16/+72The austrialian government is doing this to both increase revenue, but at the same time, slowly decrease the number of smokers. Smokers, in just about every country, make up a huge chunk of government serviced welfare, because people who usually smoke themselves into lung cancer/disease are poor, or can't foot the bill for their smoking habit.
I never understood those people who were against a cigarette tax. It doesn't work only in theory, in NYC where I live a pack is like 10 bucks, and people smoke less because of it. Packs still get sold, but they smoke less, and NY both nets more tax revenue and can pay for the smaller number of people killing themselves.
I mean, we all agree that cigarettes are bad, right? And while it's not the government's place to tell you what you can and can't do (although, murder/rape/embezzlement aside), I see nothing wrong with discouraging smoking. Good luck Australia - kerbe6, on 07/05/2009, -12/+67That's the price you pay to get cancer.
- mithrasinvictus, on 07/05/2009, -11/+66Wrong, all the smokers end up paying for your geriatric medical costs.
- DirtyVicar, on 07/05/2009, -4/+58Smokers may have to cough up $20 for a pack of cigarettes
Digg: "Government fleecing us for more money!"
Smokers may have to cough up $20 for a pack of joints
Digg: "Alright! Tax it! A well-needed boost for the treasury!"
I mean I support legalization but I couldn't help pointing out the irony. - inactive, on 07/05/2009, -31/+80If they tax $20 per pound of air we breathe, I call that a violation of personal freedom.
If they tax $20 per gallon of water we drink, I call that a violation of personal freedom.
If they tax us $20 per foot of roof we build, I call that a violation of personal freedom.
If they charge us $20 per pack of cigarettes we smoke, I call that an expensive option that you're free to leave on the shelf if you so wish.
Honestly, I have bigger problems to worry about than whether or not you can smoke tobacco affordably. - tecratour, on 07/04/2009, -26/+74I agree; *****. You want a meaningless law simply there to increase revenue? this is it. 5 bucks a pack gets the message across, this is ***** robbery.
Not a smoker, thats gross. - paradigmx, on 07/05/2009, -10/+56http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/337/15/10 ...
read it!
TLDR: Conclusions If people stopped smoking, there would be a savings in health care costs, but only in the short term. Eventually, smoking cessation would lead to increased health care costs. - rl41, on 07/05/2009, -13/+54Well smoking tobacco isn't exactly a human right... It's a non-essential product regulated by the government so they can tax it however they like. You'd just have to pay more to kill yourself in Australia.
- dbisping, on 07/04/2009, -4/+44“Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy.”
growing tobacco isn't something that will work well on the black market.
to get a smokeble product there is a complex and time consuming process. that's after you have gone through growing and harvesting the leaves. - timothiuz, on 07/05/2009, -4/+42I'm glad I dont smoke =S
- atarijedi, on 07/05/2009, -1/+35This complex and time consuming process is called curing, and involves hanging the tobacco leaves up in a cool dry place for x number of weeks.
- rhuxley, on 07/05/2009, -3/+36So buy fewer lottery tickets and it should balance out for you.
- paradigmx, on 07/05/2009, -13/+44Wait for it, $20 double Big-Mac, fat tax!
After all, you're just as bad as smokers, needing 2 Airplane seats and all.
How about we tax the ***** out of pets, you're just contributing to the allergens in the air.
I'm not asking for much, just let me smoke in ***** peace you ***** pricks - paradigmx, on 07/05/2009, -1/+30Go ahead and find a Native American reservation in Australia, I'll wait here
- rwiggum, on 07/05/2009, -1/+29They roll them, but they don't grow their own tobacco.
- sekander94, on 07/05/2009, -16/+44Smoke all you want. Just don't do it around me, and don't use my taxes to treat your lung cancer.
- Technopundit, on 07/05/2009, -0/+27Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it lots of times.
- inactive, on 07/05/2009, -9/+36The worst thing on this earth is an anti-smoking self-righteous *****. Seriously, ***** off.
- ancalagon73, on 07/05/2009, -0/+27No, the worst thing is a smoker who quits and becomes an anti-smoking self-righteous ***** only to go back to smoking and pretend that he never became an anti-smoking self-righteous *****.
- Maynza, on 07/05/2009, -5/+32Yeah because there aren't any other crops being grown and sold on the black market...
- jcounterman, on 07/05/2009, -8/+35And the next step is to have the government prevent you from having a cheeseburger...after all, heart disease is the #1 killer in the U.S. And after that, we'll ban those dangerous sports like rock climbing, because you could get hurt and go on government health care.
How far are we going to take this? Who gets to decide? - rossnyc, on 07/05/2009, -1/+24They also pay for your liver damage surgery/treatment/whatever and for all the heart attacks people have for being overweight and eating crappy food.
- kinseyincanada, on 07/05/2009, -2/+23o you wont, they have been expensive in canada for years an the average joe isnt going to go to some back alley to get a pack of smokes.
- paradigmx, on 07/05/2009, -6/+27Honestly, you have a better chance of winning the lottery, then getting stuck by lightning on your way to claim your winnings than you do of getting lung cancer by walking past a few smokers.
- BotchaMcCoola, on 07/04/2009, -6/+27Hijack a big rig full of those cartons and retire.
- CalgaryJohn, on 07/05/2009, -0/+20Hey, don't get me wrong, I love to puff too (every day). But don't kid yourself that smoking cigarettes is bad but smoking herb is OK. While there ARE less chemicals and less proven carcinogens, you're still inhaling burning plant matter (smoke) which is extremely bad for your lungs and can lead to whole whack o' lung & breathing problems. I'm not saying don't puff, I'm just saying you shouldn't delude yourself that its a healthy activity.
- NorthMass, on 07/05/2009, -9/+29I agree, but it is not my business whether someone smokes or not. We all have our downfalls, we shouldn't punish people because their particular downfall happens to be smoking.
- LocalDocal, on 07/05/2009, -2/+22Tobacco is addictive and kind of difficult to give up. As prohibition proved, if the populace is addicted to something and you decide to outlaw/severely limit it, then they *are* going to go to the back alley to get it.
- Larsonal777, on 07/05/2009, -2/+21hey if you're willing to pay the taxes im totally up for it... no one is forcing you to buy that *****.
- dafragsta, on 07/05/2009, -0/+18You have to cure marijuana too, but it doesn't have to be cured for nearly as long, and since you are only curing flowers, the usable space needed for curing is very negligible. REALLY good cured tobacco can be several years old. This is why old cigars, as long as they've maintained a level of humidity, are far superior and smoother from beginning to end compared to new cigars. The best cigar I've ever had was from a batch of cigars that started their fermentation process in 1990. Tobacco has a really varied flavor in much the same way that some grapes in a bunch are really sweet and some are really sour. The more time you can give the leave to marry their flavors, the better the tobacco.
- philrenaud, on 07/05/2009, -37/+55Awesome!
Higher taxes and prices on things that are bad for you = beneficial for everybody other than the selfish.
I moved from Ontario, Canada to Phoenix, AZ two years ago. Cigarette prices in Ontario ran $14/pack, while they're about $4.50 here. Australia would do well to implement a tax hike like this.
As an aside: Americans who call low-taxed cigarettes a "freedom" can have fun dying three years younger than modern nations with nationalized healthcare. You can wonder why your government spends more than any other country per capita on your broken private system, while you're at it. - inactive, on 07/05/2009, -6/+24I already know a lot of people that roll their own cigarettes. Cheaper, higher quality, etc.
It also seems like the process of rolling them would keep you from smoking too many. :-) - paradigmx, on 07/05/2009, -4/+22I pay $12 for the same 25 smokes i paid $5 for 10 years ago. $20 a pack wouldn't make me quit, it would just piss me off every time I buy a pack of smokes.(FYI, I'm pissed off now every time I buy a pack of smokes, still isn't making me consider quitting)
TLDR: I haven't quit yet because of rising cigarette prices, why would I quit now? - burningrobot, on 07/05/2009, -5/+23They have packs with 30 cigarettes? And to think, I've been wasting my money only buying packs with 20.
- milomilomilo, on 07/05/2009, -0/+17I'm sure you're a blast at parties with that anti-social attitude. Way to sound like a worthless *****.
As for quitting; Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the entire planet, more so that heroine and amphetamines. Quitting is not easy and it quite a bit more than simply deciding to quit.
Smoking and the addiction to it is a stress response that the body believes it requires, and the overhwlming compulsion to light a cigarette is not some conscious decision.
I quit for a year myself and I can't count how many times I would be having a conversation and just reach into my shirt pocket to grab a cigarette even though none were there.
You know how I started smoking again? saw a pack on my patio table my friend had left there, took one out, sparked it all the while not even thinking what I was doing and after a few drags I stopped and saw my buddy staring at me.
I though to myself, "I can't believe I just ***** did that".
And promptly though "well I'm 25, I can quit some time down the road and I'm young enough that it shouldn't hurt me too bad in the long term" even though I knew then( and know now) that I probably won't quit.
It's like ***** crack. - HappyScrappy, on 07/05/2009, -1/+18You were so ready to go off on your gloom and doom anti-Obama predictions for the US that you didn't notice this is about Australia, genius.
- twiztidsinz, on 07/05/2009, -3/+20Good argument for smoking?
Freedom. - Gusbob, on 07/05/2009, -3/+20Why are you referring to yourself in the second person viewpoint?
- mhf03, on 07/05/2009, -0/+17Thats why the price is being raised because the government needs money and they know smokers will continue to buy them. They love cigarette companies for that.
- Mykonos08, on 07/05/2009, -15/+32I love how I can go to a bar and get drunk off my ass, but god forbid I have a smoke before the drive home. Godamn moral entrepreneurs.
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