Not-That-Bright said:
Yea seriously, why not tax them heaps?
And do you believe the government is only out to make money? they could make cocaine legal and tax it at 1000% of the profit but they don't...
So you're willing to tell me.. that dispite the millions they spend on the 'quit' campaign each year...dispite the hundreds of millions they spend each year keeping people alive from smoking related diseases... that they WANT people to keep smoking? lol
In a sense yes, in fact there have even been calls for cocaine legalisation and massive taxation. Such things would not pass well with the community and no party would survive such moves, so it is never undertaken, much like the flac the greens copped for proposing the legalisation of marijuana.
Ciggerettes are already socialy accepted though, so can be used as a "cash-cow" without any detrimental effects to popularity. In fact calls for the banning of ciggerettes would be impotent, much like with alcohol.
Also if you haven't noticed they already DO tax them heaps, extorsionist rates realy, nothing is taxed as heavily as cigerettes. 1000% would be $20 a packet, which isn't at all too far anyway.
While i am not accusing the government of harming the population and trying to profiteering, i AM saying they are profiteering of self inflicted harm (which i wouldn't mind too much if there wasn't such a huge shift towards private hospitals).
As for lengstar, i think i am being considerate enough by saying i dont mind segregation of clubs/pubs, and i don't see anything hugely incosiderate in punching out someone who complains about my smoke in open air after they come along and sit next to me in my smoking designated seat at a cafe after they walk out of their Ford F-250 with a massive bull-bar (pedestrian plough).