tekkenlaw

Pot doesn't make you sick if you try to quit.

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"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself." -- Jimmy Carter

Trocisp

It also says on the package (and it's common knowledge) that Tobacco is addicting...

I don't agree with "Sin taxes" (taxes on Alcohol, tobacco, etc) in the first place, but arguing that the reason we shouldn't tax smokers is because they're poor and unhealthy is like arguing we shouldn't tax rich people because they spend a lot of money.

tekkenlaw

They don't get poor from buying cigarettes though, lower class people are just more likely to pick up smoking. This bill just takes money from them that they could use to deal with their own health problems since they have a higher chance of having medical problems in first place.

Trocisp

No, they have a higher chance of health problems because they smoke. If they stopped smoking they could both improve their healthy and... here's the kicker, not pay the tax.

Not to mention save (if they smoke 1 pack a day) 1825 dollars a year (at 5 dollars a pack).

tekkenlaw

It's not easy to quit smoking, especially if you don't have the resources for some sort of quitting program and just do it cold turkey. Everyone knows it's a unhealthy and expensive habit.

Also, I'm kind of just playing the devil's advocate here because everyone seems so against this veto.

Trocisp

I'm an ex-smoker myself, and not to sound like an asshole or anything... but suck it up and stop buying cigarettes. It's not that hard, just don't buy any!

Willpower. Force of mind. Strength of Character. Have these things been forgotten in todays "click-to-buy with a credit-card before-you've-even-earned-the-cash" society?

Uh oh... what am I talking about... i'm 17. Todays society is all I remember, chances are people lacked these qualities before today, but couldn't use the same scape-goats as I just did.. they had different ones.

tekkenlaw

I'm not a smoker, just playing the devil's advocate...

Plainsman1963

Personally, I loved the logic used by some politicians for the tax to pay for the program. "Maybe we could get more people to quit by raising the tax"...Umm...Then how would we pay for the program?

JP? You do realize it isn't "free" health care, right? We would be paying for it with...You guessed it...More taxes.

I'm not completely convinced on universal coverage, government run health care, or whatever you want to call it. On one hand I've read where between the VA, Medicare and Medicaid, the government is already covering around 2/3 of the population. I don't know if that is true or not, but if it is, seems fairly simple to expand it to include the 1/3 missing. If we could divert some of the taxes we already pay for stupid shit to healthcare, I probably wouldn't scream too loudly.

But on the other hand, I am a believer that the government should get the fuck out of our lives as much as possible and providing mandatory health care just doesn't jibe with that belief.

Would those that engage in riskier behavior (such as smoking, doing drugs or...Hell, living a dangerous lifestyle such as not wearing condoms, rock climbing, etc...) pay a bigger share in taxes for their health care than those that don't?

If not, why the hell should I have to pay for their medical care if I don't engage in those risks?

Seems like a lot of people suddenly think the government should be there as a safety net. Hurricane hit? Federal bailout. Get sick? Federal bailout. Lose your job? Federal bailout.

Part of being free is also taking responsibility for your life and not expecting the government to always be there to bail you out.

tekkenlaw

The main thing is that I don't see why smokers should be held responsible for children's health care, it seems pretty arbitrary to me.

How about a tax on fast food? Maybe then parents would be more likely to prepare a home cooked meal for their children rather than just buying them a happy meal. That seems like killing two birds with one stone considering how big of a problem child obesity is. And kids with diabetes and other problems are probably a big reason why we need more health care.

Trocisp

Yep. I completely agree. Like I said before, I disagree with the concept of Sin Taxes in the first place. I just didn't think the argument "But they're poor and unhealthy!" was valid.

A tax on fast food would be fantastic. It's just too bad that Wendy's, McDonalds, Burger King, Arbys, KFC and every other major FastFood corp. have insanely large lobbying groups on the Federal, state and (proably) local levels.

I dislike fast food, and rarely eat it myself. So, a fast food tax wouldn't effect me at all. (I, on occasion enjoy a Cigarette... A guilty pleasure, but what can I say. )