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You might even say that not using tobacco is being Un-American!
We owe our independence from Great Britain to tobacco. When Benjamin Franklin went begging to the French bankers to amass the money for our military needs to defeat the British, the Bankers wanted 5 million pounds of tobacco as collateral for the loan, as the French had become addicted to tobacco, just like the British. Source: Tobacco by Iain Gately.
Washington and Jefferson were tobacco farmers, and the tobacco addicted British wanted, primarily, Virginia for their tobacco interests, as they didn't have much luck growing tobacco in England.
Let's not forget that Tobacco is an herb, just like marijuana, and has medicinal properties. And, watch and see, just like marijuana, the day will come when tobacco will be rediscovered. But, next time around, perhaps nicotine pills instead, or safer cigarettes to smoke.
Primarily, it's a stress reliever and an appetite suppressant. Back in the days when the Native American Indians had a crop failure, they'd smoke and smoke and smoke until the next crop came in, to deflect hunger pains.
Phooey to those that claim that it's so expensive to treat people with lung diseases, as in comparison to other diseases, like obesity. Back in 1999, England was raking in $11 billion from tobacco taxes and only $2 billion was eaten up by treating those with lung diseases. England also raised the tobacco taxes so high it brought in the Black Market, and they were forced to lower the taxes.
If Thomas Jefferson or George Washington were alive today, great tobacco farmers, how do you think they'd react to those astronomical tobacco taxes today, let alone the issue of 2nd hand smoke!
I think the idea behind raising the price of cigarettes higher and higher and limiting the stores that can sell them is to keep young people from starting smoking. The long term smokers are a lost cause. Some may quit, most will find other means of buying cheaper but city's ultimate intent is probably to have so few smokers, say by 2030, that cigarette sales will be banned in NYC.
That's what I thought too. Perhaps people embellish (for whatever reason) how much they smoke but I hear people always saying how they used to smoke 3 packs per day. I imagine you'd have to spend the majority of your day smoking if you smoke that many.
Then hold on to your pants... My husband has severe copd and still smokes almost 4 packs a day. There is usually 1-2 minutes between smokes. I quit ages ago. I presume (since he doesn't like the subject brought up) he has simply decided to hasten his death. He's afraid of going slowly but obviously, he has no guarantee of that. He was diagnosed over 10 yrs ago.
So what items are they adding the lost revenue to since they're forcing folks to quit?
Cigarette tax revenue is trivial compared to the overall NYC budget, this is not done for monetary reasons. Plus, NYC is actually running budget surpluses, even with our liberal mayor trying to hand out money to everyone and everything.
Cigarette tax revenue is trivial compared to the overall NYC budget, this is not done for monetary reasons. Plus, NYC is actually running budget surpluses, even with our liberal mayor trying to hand out money to everyone and everything.
I guess I was thinking nationwide. Ultimately, 25 yrs ago the revenue that cigarettes was bringing in nationally was pretty substantial. As the push got on to raise the prices to encourage people to quit the loss from overall revenues would be noticed.. and I'm sure, placed elsewhere. Not many places allow for tax revenue to drop.
Then hold on to your pants... My husband has severe copd and still smokes almost 4 packs a day. There is usually 1-2 minutes between smokes. I quit ages ago. I presume (since he doesn't like the subject brought up) he has simply decided to hasten his death. He's afraid of going slowly but obviously, he has no guarantee of that. He was diagnosed over 10 yrs ago.
Once you acquire COPD, even if you quit, it's not going to prolong your life/lungs much further, if any. It's like getting AIDS, and you then decide to have sex with condoms. Too late!
My aunt developed emphysema, and she quit for a year, but didn't notice any difference in her breathing status. So, not surprisingly, she took up smoking again.
At 67YO, I have been diagnosed with COPD, but I continue to smoke, but only a half pack a day, smoking one cigarette in 3 shifts. If I quit, and develop pneumonia, there's a good possibility I'm a goner.
Any number of people have come close to death in car accidents, but they still drive!
My big worry is gaining weight. My Dad quit smoking after 50 years of smoking, 3 packs a day of Kool's, at 66YO, and went on to live to 96 without any lung problems whatsoever. But he gained a lot of weight after quitting and ended up having a bypass done. My sister, likewise, gained a lot of weight, and all she can say is, yes, I've gained weight, but I quit smoking.
I took NYC off my travel list after I heard that there was to be no more smoking in city parks, office plaza's, Coney Island. Difficult to swallow, coming from Las Vegas, where we can still smoke in neighborhood bars.
You can Google Cigarette Tax Revenue by State, and you'll easily see why cigarettes will never, ever be banned.
I think pipe smoking, cigar smoking, and chewing tobacco were all more common than cigarette smoking until WWI.
Interesting. Why do think that? Farmers?
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