50% Vape tax?

[Opinionated]

I don't watch American television, or any television for that matter, so I don't know for sure if there has been a televised event of such a nature. I do follow the news fairly closely, and I'm pretty sure there hasn't. Such an interview would be fantastic though. If verifiable data could be got that this was a 'leak' or it was made known that this particular segment never made it to the publics' eyes and/or ears would probably make it more sensational. All that is pure folly though, a politician would merely have to say, "It's for the kids.." or some such BS, and then regurgitate falsehoods.

High taxes is supposed to act as a deterrent to tobacco use - but all it does in reality is make government entities get in bed with tobacco companies.

More tax revenue = more government programs = more votes for politicians. They don't want that going away anytime soon, so politicians become spokesman against any dangers to that revenue.

In this case, it's working to sustain a public health crisis.

 

[MLEJ]

Firstly, here in the U.S. we grow a lot of tobacco and its a portion of our annual GDP. The tobacco lobby here is huge, as a result. There's a lot of money at stake when you look at Tobacco as an industry here.

Not only that, but when states settled with tobacco companies over the public health concerns and subsequent costs to states, many states took the payments in tobacco bonds...

Well, if people truly stop smoking those bonds loose their value, and the states loose out - therefore, many individual states are willing to do anything not to loose money - and vaping IS a real and present danger to the future of Tobacco - especially because nicotine can be synthesized.

So all in all, it's fear of the economic impact that smokers actually quitting poses... they don't give a damn about the people sick and dying, tobacco is big business.

More tax revenue = more government programs = more votes for politicians. They don't want that going away anytime soon, so politicians become spokesman against any dangers to that revenue.

Yet those same governments have done everything possible except outlawing it to discourage tobacco smoking.
It's all beyond ridiculous.

 

[Opinionated]

Yet those same governments have done everything possible except outlawing it to discourage tobacco smoking.
It's all beyond ridiculous.

I personally think discouragement acts like reverse psychology on teens. Tell them something is dangerous and horrible and a subset wants it more.

Look at vaping. The U.K. has a completely different % of teens vaping than the U.S. did - and the difference is the UK saying vaping was a safe and viable alternative to quit smoking, while the U.S. jumped up and down going on about how dangerous vaping is...

Who's teens picked up vaping? U.S.

Its Reverse psychology.

start telling people its a viable NRT and kids won't want a juul, and adult smokers will quit smoking. As it is now in the U.S. adult smokers are scared of vaping, and teens are picking it up... backwards of what it should be.

 

[zoiDman]

High taxes is supposed to act as a deterrent to tobacco use - but all it does in reality is make government entities get in bed with tobacco companies.

More tax revenue = more government programs = more votes for politicians. They don't want that going away anytime soon, so politicians become spokesman against any dangers to that revenue.

In this case, it's working to sustain a public health crisis.

Yeah... They Tell You that Raising Taxes is a Deterrent. And then they give you "Proposed" Revenue Numbers based on the Same Amount of Sales at a Higher Tax Basis.

But what they DON"T Tell People is this...

"New York State leads the nation when it comes to cigarette smuggling and 55.5% of cigarettes smoked in the state in 2014 came from smuggled sources, according to a study published in January by the non-profit Tax Foundation."

NYC moves to raise cost of cigarettes to nation's highest

Today, estimates are that the 55.5% is closer to 65%. Because those Big Apple Pin Heads Don't Learn. And just Keep Raising Taxes on Cigarettes and telling the Public Niceties about "Saving the Children".

 

[MLEJ]

I personally think discouragement acts like reverse psychology on teens. Tell them something is dangerous and horrible and a subset wants it more.

Look at vaping. The U.K. has a completely different % of teens vaping than the U.S. did - and the difference is the UK saying vaping was a safe and viable alternative to quit smoking, while the U.S. jumped up and down going on about how dangerous vaping is...

Who's teens picked up vaping? U.S.

Its Reverse psychology.

start telling people its a viable NRT and kids won't want a juul, and adult smokers will quit smoking. As it is now in the U.S. adult smokers are scared of vaping, and teens are picking it up... backwards of what it should be.

Interesting theory.

In the mid-1990's, about 35% of high school seniors smoked cigarettes, though not necessarily daily. It was somewhat higher about 25 years prior. That's down to under 5% now, about 25 years later. Down about 10% in 25 years, 70-ish to 95-ish, then down about 30% over the next 25 years.
The subset that wants it more if it's dangerous would seem to have become very small.
Juul & the like probably have something to do with the decline. Crazy high taxes, probably more. Age to purchase restrictions and the general attitude in society toward cigarettes surely contribute.

If it's been an attempt at reverse psychology, it's been a failure, no?
About what you'd expect from our government...?

 

[iowajosh]

I personally think discouragement acts like reverse psychology on teens. Tell them something is dangerous and horrible and a subset wants it more.

Look at vaping. The U.K. has a completely different % of teens vaping than the U.S. did - and the difference is the UK saying vaping was a safe and viable alternative to quit smoking, while the U.S. jumped up and down going on about how dangerous vaping is...

Who's teens picked up vaping? U.S.

Its Reverse psychology.

start telling people its a viable NRT and kids won't want a juul, and adult smokers will quit smoking. As it is now in the U.S. adult smokers are scared of vaping, and teens are picking it up... backwards of what it should be.

From what I have seen, the UK youth numbers aren't that much different. The UK didn't use the "once in 30 days" idiocy that they did here. It makes the numbers look much more scary.

 

[iowajosh]

Interesting theory.

In the mid-1990's, about 35% of high school seniors smoked cigarettes, though not necessarily daily. It was somewhat higher about 25 years prior. That's down to under 5% now, about 25 years later. Down about 10% in 25 years, 70-ish to 95-ish, then down about 30% over the next 25 years.
The subset that wants it more if it's dangerous would seem to have become very small.
Juul & the like probably have something to do with the decline. Crazy high taxes, probably more. Age to purchase restrictions and the general attitude in society toward cigarettes surely contribute.

If it's been an attempt at reverse psychology, it's been a failure, no?
About what you'd expect from our government...?

In the 90's, the 25% or whatever was daily use. Now it is 4.6% in 2019 with "past 30 day use." They don't report the daily smoking number because it is so small.