What!!!! No ashtray

nuTinmuch · 03-26-2010, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadow2k

42% increase in taxes last May on cigs was just the increase, not the total tax. And I don't think 200k is the average lifespan of a car, among other things wrong with the math here. But let's just say for argument's sake that the numbers are equal. All that says to me is don't raise the tax on cigs again.

Heck, you still get to drive your two ton machine of death anywhere you please. The same can't be said for smoking. Maybe I should pay less taxes...I mean, it's only fair. Your driving habit costs a heck of a lot more per year as my smoking habit...if you're truly worried about the costs.

Car Crash Stats: There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes.

Smoking Deaths Cost U.S. $92 Billion a Year
Total costs, including health care, more than $167 billion yearly
The new lost productivity estimate when combined with smoking-related health care costs, which was reported at $75.5 billion in 1998, exceeds $167 billion per year in the United States.

Not that I would stake my life on any of this data being anywhere near accurate, but you get the point.

you are comparing apples to oranges, you know

i'll give you a hint

you don't have to ride your cigarette to work

putting a car on the same level (vice wise) as a nicotine addiction is pretty insane

i mean you are literally comparing the health care costs of something with two statistical bases that are drastically different.

Quote:

I don't smoke, but cigarette taxes in New York City are over $4 a pack.

I don't smoke and I hate it. But I support peoples rights to do it if they please. And any government based tax on goods because they're "bad" for you is unconstitutional crap. It needs to stop.

I'm also quoting this from sixteen thousand pages back just because it is silly. The government isn't taxing these things because they are bad for you, they are taxing them because they are addictive and people will continue to buy them. That is why they tax the "sins" -- because people aren't going to stop doing them. There isn't anything unconstitutional about it. On another note, it is why they need to legalize cannabis use and tax it. They would make a killing.

Also I don't care if people smoke or jump off buildings or singe their pubic hair with a blowtorch, freedoms and all -- but I do care when those things endanger my health. I would argue to the death for someone to smoke in their own home or car or whatever, but get that away from me. I have multiple medical conditions it agitates and while I try to avoid it as much as possible there is always some tool who is smoking on campus or whatever.

edit: also, this is turning into a political discussion and chances are it will be locked, but whatever. I wanted to get my two cents in.