Smoking a good thing?

A recent increase of taxes on tobacco is causing quite a stir in our society. All of the people I know are starting to reconsider smoking in the first place. With a pack of cigarettes now reaching upwards of six dollars or more, in these financially troubled times most people do not have that kind of money to spend on this habit. While some may see this as a good thing to help break people of their habit almost forcefully we seem to forget just how addicting these things are and what psychological effect it will have on these people not getting their normal amounts of nicotine in their body. On the plus side again, this tax is an attempt to help keep children healthy by providing them with free health care. Now most people think that a tax like that would be worth it, however there are those smokers with no kids who feel that paying for something they will never use is unfair. But is it really unfair to ensure the welfare of our future? As hard as it may be, the only realistic way I see smokers fighting back against this tax increase would be t stop, which in the end is not a bad thing either. As a non smoker I feel bias by saying I think this is a good tax, but I do see more positive than negative effects. Maybe my views would be slightly skewed if I were a smoker, but it is not something I would like to test.

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I am very confused about this tax... I mean, I am torn on whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Obviously the plus side would be that maybe it would get more people to quit smoking, however, I believe there are a lot more bad sides then good ones on this issue. First off, people are addicted to cigarettes, and times are financially hard right now. So the way I see it, if they keep raising the price of cigarettes more people are going to end up robbing gas stations just to get cigarettes. Now, obviously I am not talking about your average person here, but there are alot of young people who are up to no good that already have trouble buying cigarettes because they have to job (by choice) and so what else can they do? Secondly, even though smoking is really bad for people, it is a MAJOR industry. A lot of people have jobs in the tobacco industry and such and if more and more people quit smoking then less and less cigarettes need to be produced, thus even more people losing jobs and money. I mean, if the costs of cigarettes keep rising then people will quit, but can we really afford to have people quit smoking? Most people don't realize that the tobacco industry is a big one and employs many people. It is really not much different then GM or Delphi(you know what I mean), and I think the last thing our economy needs right now is more people losing jobs and more businesses going out of business. I am not saying that people shouldn't quit smoking, I am just suggesting another way of looking at the situation. So basically, I am not so sure that this tax is such a good idea after all.

I am also finding it hard to decide whether I support the tax increase on cigarettes. As a nonsmoker it really doesn’t affect me, but I do think that it is somewhat unfair for those who do. I heard on the radio that people who are consider poor are more likely to smoke then those who are financially better off. With the tough economic times that we are in it just doesn’t seem right for a tax like this to occur. This could make things hard on a lot of people especially when you consider that a lot of people smoke because they are addicted not because they want to. I just think that they should have considered who this tax really affects.

I do not know whether i agree with this tax or not. I mean yes it is a good thing to try and get people ot stop smoking but i mean its really not for the best i think. I mean if people do end up stop smoking what are they going to raise tha tax on yet? Most likely they will not quit anyways and yes i have heard many people are cutting down on smoking and they need to because it is expensive. Right now many people are hurting from the economy and they still spend money on cigarettes. The only reason I do not agree with the raise on cigarettes is because for the people that are truly addicted to them. A person who is addicted may or may not have money to by cigarettes but they continue to just because they are addicted. I think it would help all and all because maybe people would start cutting down and after it all end up quiting.