16 of 66

No

Write now Article Tools

High taxes on cigarettes are just another example of the Government using the law to penalize the un-popular people in our society that still smoke. It is bad enough that you can hardly smoke anywhere anymore, but as a smoker I can appreciate the right for non-smokers not to have to be subjected to second hand smoke. It is my choice to smoke but are there not other things that could be taxed that are more widely used than cigarettes? Why not put a higher tax on beer?

It is yet another ploy but the establishment to make it a hardship on those of us who chose to smoke. I know that smoking causes a lot of illnesses that are taxing the health care system in this country. Is that a good enough excuse to raise taxes on smokers? I am sure that people who do not smoke think it is alright. I wonder though if we were to raise the taxes on their vices as high as cigarettes, would they feel the same. I think not. I do not have the facts to back up this statement but it is an observation that deserves further research, but I know that drinking also kills. I have a friend that died of alcohol poisoning, and that is just one way people are dying from drinking.

What if we took a look at all the accident in cars or motorcycles, even airplanes and trains? Would those dollars also be taxing our health care system? What about the drunk captain the wrecked that ship, "The Valdez" it think it was, the one who spilled all that oil in Alaska? I am sure that took a lot of money to clean up, if indeed we did clean it all up, and I'd be willing to bet the some of that money came from tax dollars. I know it did not all come from Exxon the guilty party. Once again I do not have any hard data in front of me, nor have I tried to find out the exact costs of these scenarios I have chosen to use. It is merely speculation on my part.

The cost of cigarettes however is something that I feel out of my fixed income. I know you would tell me just quit, and then it won't be a problem for you. I have tried to quit, I really have. I have used all the new drugs that are supposed to make me stop, given to me by my doctors. The gum, the patch, you name it I tried it. Yet still this is one addiction I can not seem to shake. I know a lot about addictions being a recovering alcoholic and drug user. I have been clean and sober almost 17 years, but these darn cigarettes have got a hold of me like nothing ever has in my life. I could take the easy way out and blame the tobacco companies for lying to us about the dangers of smoking for so many years, but it was my choice to start. I just wish I could find a way to quit.

It is my fault that I still smoke, but it is not my fault that the government in its infinite wisdom has decided to punish me by making it so expensive that it is almost a hardship.

Learn more about this author, Ron Busby.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Are high taxes on cigarettes fair??
We want to hear your view. Write now!