Rising cigarette prices!?!?!?

So... shall we tax stupid people

Would you support huge taxes on everything that has no tangible benefit?

Given that i am not generally a tax fan i would look at this on a case by case basis although i broadly support the legalisation and high taxation of all narcotics.

I was talking more about things like computer games, cinema tickets, junk food etc. If you can make an argument for smoking having no tangible benefit then I don't see why you couldn't make an argument for those products as well. Could even go as far as any luxury good.

Sorry but not true. In the 2012 budget excise duties on tobacco covered about 1/37 of healthcare spending: http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_complete.pdf
And that's a cold heard fact. Like it or not but smokers have played a significant part in bloating the state in this country. I just don't see why smokers assume it's their right to damage their body (which it is in theory) - but then get the sensible non-smoking taxpayers to pay for it. Even if smokers pay enough tax to cover the specific costs of smoking-related illness treatments, which they don't, the social costs have to be taken into account. Smoking has killed a large portion of my relatives so I don't have much sympathy with self-righteous smokers who put on the whole 'but i pay massive taxes/it's my right to kill myself/i won't use the NHS anyway bit. Nothing against you personally, just my opinion

As If they weren't high enough, I've just heard they're going up again in October.
Time to learn how to roll

Stop smoking. It's bad for you

because I totally resent smokers who seem to actually be offended at the fact that they can't just damage their bodies, use up vast quantities of NHS (taxpayer) money then get all self-righteous about high taxes. Besides, I've known plenty of asthmatic friends who've not been able to go outside at parties and family events because smokers selfishly pollute the air. I'd have no problem with smokers if it weren't for the sense of entitlement and faux-libertarianism that comes with it.

And it wasn't a personal attack; it was cold hard statistics and facts

Most of the arguments put forward by people in this thread are of astoundingly poor form... the fallacious nature of such content only serves to demonstrate the willingness of otherwise uninformed individuals to spout their unsolicited worthless opinions.

Firstly, many smokers fail to understand that they are the societal equivalent of the obese person who sits next to you on the plane. Even the supposedly intelligent ones seem oblivious to the fact that in practising their own liberty they are impeding the liberty of others. Secondly, out of those smokers who do appreciate that being able to smoke is a privilege and not a right, only the addicts (irrationally driven) ones complain about the price. If the costs of smoking are too high for you, quit. If you cannot quit, get help. Nonsensical arguments about being 'priced out' are shamefully pitiful and only hurt your cause and your credibility.

Now on to the real villains, the so called 'opponents'. Most of these sanctimonious degenerates are so deep in their own hypocrisy that only an idiot of equal measure would give them the time of day. These fickle creatures will blindly shout about any statistic that even hints at a possibility of them being right. They fail to understand that any realistic attempt to quantitatively asses the costs and benefits of smoking in even a remotely meaningful way would be met with failure. Not only because of the objective nature of the subject but also because of sheer intractability and general apathy.
Smokers do not need more presumptuous individuals telling them how they are killing themselves and gaining no pleasure from it! NHS budgets and the woes of asthma patients rank near bottom in factors influencing most smokers. Yes those things influence government decisions about taxation but since smoking is highly price inelastic anyway they have little effect above generating revenue.
The one thing that does actually make a real world difference is the smokers own health. (everyone wants to see their kids grow up etc.) This is why as health awareness has increased, smoking prevalence has seen a global downward trend.

What is the shocking conclusion? ... People care not what you think. They are self interested. Any attempts to coerce them through manipulation will probably make them hostile and they will respect you less for it. This is no longer about smoking but about the attitude with which we approach any such debate.
Everyone needs to stop regurgitating the same manufactured opinions that already plague daily life, especially in the passive way social media has encouraged you too.



tl;dr
this discussion is more pointless than than than the opinions of those in it, myself included

I am so jealous of the rich who can smoke to their hearts content.

I don't see what the governments logic behind this is?
Won't it just lead to more people buying on the black market and abroad, therefore lower revenue for them and more taxes for non-smokers to make up for it?!

No, I pay enough tax already

The government's logic is quite obvious, isn't it? They're hoping people will give up because it's too expensive. The smoking ban back in 2007 saw a dramatic drop in the number of smokers, and in theory, this should work too. I can't see why anyone would take up smoking now, it's far too expensive.

I didn't want to quit. The way I treat my body has nothing to do with you, anyone else or the government. As an adult I wish to smoke at reasonable price and should be able to do that. It's ridiculous that so many people are priced out of a thing that they enjoy. The same thing is going to happen with alcohol as well with the 50p in the unit *******s. How are the poor supposed to enjoy themselves?

Well actually, a large number of people get treated by the NHS for smoking related health issues like lung cancer. I imagine it costs the government a fair share of it's revenue to pay for it. Perhaps the government is just trying reduce the amount of money it spends on the NHS for smoking related health issue which taxpayers pay for, so that they can inject more money on trying to recover the economy.

However, like one poster already said, many people could turn to the black market, which could be selling cigarettes that are more detrimental to our health and making the government pay more, whilst also losing tax revenue on cigarette companies, since they are making less profit in the UK. The money may go to other European countries that sell cigarettes for cheaper. But hey, that's just one possible reason for why the prices have been raised. Oh and also, we're in a recession ofc

Most of the arguments put forward by people in this thread are of astoundingly poor form... the fallacious nature of such content only serves to demonstrate the willingness of otherwise uninformed individuals to spout their unsolicited worthless opinions.

Firstly, many smokers fail to understand that they are the societal equivalent of the obese person who sits next to you on the plane. Even the supposedly intelligent ones seem oblivious to the fact that in practising their own liberty they are impeding the liberty of others. Secondly, out of those smokers who do appreciate that being able to smoke is a privilege and not a right, only the addicts (irrationally driven) ones complain about the price. If the costs of smoking are too high for you, quit. If you cannot quit, get help. Nonsensical arguments about being 'priced out' are shamefully pitiful and only hurt your cause and your credibility.

Now on to the real villains, the so called 'opponents'. Most of these sanctimonious degenerates are so deep in their own hypocrisy that only an idiot of equal measure would give them the time of day. These fickle creatures will blindly shout about any statistic that even hints at a possibility of them being right. They fail to understand that any realistic attempt to quantitatively asses the costs and benefits of smoking in even a remotely meaningful way would be met with failure. Not only because of the objective nature of the subject but also because of sheer intractability and general apathy.
Smokers do not need more presumptuous individuals telling them how they are killing themselves and gaining no pleasure from it! NHS budgets and the woes of asthma patients rank near bottom in factors influencing most smokers. Yes those things influence government decisions about taxation but since smoking is highly price inelastic anyway they have little effect above generating revenue.
The one thing that does actually make a real world difference is the smokers own health. (everyone wants to see their kids grow up etc.) This is why as health awareness has increased, smoking prevalence has seen a global downward trend.

What is the shocking conclusion? ... People care not what you think. They are self interested. Any attempts to coerce them through manipulation will probably make them hostile and they will respect you less for it. This is no longer about smoking but about the attitude with which we approach any such debate.
Everyone needs to stop regurgitating the same manufactured opinions that already plague daily life, especially in the passive way social media has encouraged you too.



tl;dr
this discussion is more pointless than than than the opinions of those in it, myself included