America’s new tobacco crisis: The rich stopped smoking, the poor didn’t.

WP ^ | 6/13/2017 | William Wan

[Fhios]

" ... The national smoking rate has fallen to historic lows, with just 15 percent of adults still smoking. But the socioeconomic gap has never been bigger. ..."

"... Among the nation’s less-educated people — those with a high-school-equivalency diploma — the smoking rate remains more than 40 percent ..."

[867V309]

well, if you believe these “studies,” it could be concluded that smokers elected Trump.

[laplata]

Children of the 50’s through the 70’s probably had stupid parents who trained them to be stupid smokers.

---

You just made a stupid remark and I know you don’t even smoke.

[cherry]

smokers just don't "die"...they often go thru years of having COPD, on oxygen, not able to work, using govt services frequently,and then many get lung cancer and go thru surgery/chemo/radiation...

this "dying" is not quick and its not cheap...

so no...we shouldn't encourage smoking because not only is it killing people but its costing the taxpayers BILLIONS....

[Lurker]

Well the anti-freedom types are nasty. That totalitarian “its for your own good” streak has killed more people than smoking ever will. Oh wait, you’re one of them.

L

[867V309]

so no...we shouldn't encourage smoking because not only is it killing people but its costing the taxpayers BILLIONS....

You have lost the thread, my friend, when you judge behavior by how much it costs taxpayers. That is the road to tyranny.

The answer, of course, is individual responsibility. If an indigent smoker gets lung cancer, it should be the responsibility of the government to make his death comfortable, nothing more.

[Drew68]

My kids go to a public elementary school here in NE Florida. The students are from primarily two classes; the mostly white and black middle-class families who live in the suburbs and the mostly poor white families who live in the dilapidated trailer parks and have tattoos on their necks and hands. The poor adults are almost all smokers. Very few middle-class parents smoke.

This is my unscientific observation as someone who smoked for 30 years and quit cold turkey in 2015 --the year that more Americans than ever quit smoking.

Smoking in America today is almost entirely the habit of the lower class and they are the ones paying $6 for a pack of cigarettes.

[deepestsouth1]

and buying $20.00 worth of lottery tickets along with the cigarettes

[jocon307]

I just wish I still smoked, that’s all I have to say on this topic. I stopped because my bossy daughter made me, also I couldn’t afford it. But I hate not smoking. So there.

[catnipman]

“In Hawaii, I can tell you from years of carefully observing, that WELFARE RECIPIENTS ONLY smoke.”

around here you mainly see the corner street beggars smoking, you know, the ones with signs like, “Need food, any little bit helps.

Packs of cigarettes cost $6.00 each here. Also, if you look carefully, you’ll see that most street corner beggars have some kind of street-legal car parked nearby their begging spot as well.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

They say quitting smoking is harder that quitting heroin.

Are you kidding. I saw documentaries on heroin abuse. The high is the equivalent of getting a hug from God.

[Mears]

“so no...we shouldn’t encourage smoking because not only is it killing people but its costing the taxpayers BILLIONS.... “

—

Prove it——where did you get that info? It makes no sense.

Billions?

.

[lovesdogs]

I ended up in the hospital due to a bad reaction to new blood pressure meds. My roommate had one of those sleep apnea machines and many late night visitors. My annoyance turned to sympathy when her doctor walked in and announced that she had lung cancer. You could just tell that he thought she deserved it since she was still smoking,

[Ransomed]

The poorest are also the most likely to be obese. Something that has never happened before to my understanding. It’s like something out of Swift.

Freegards

[Telepathic Intruder]

So why do Democrats who claim to support they poor taxing the crap out of tobacco? Don’t they know they’re only hurting the poor?

[Ransomed]

I buy it as far as actual success rates for quitting being similar for one reason. You can stop at any convenience store and buy a pack of smokes 24 hours a day right in front of cops, go outside and light up in front of anyone. The convenience and social acceptance factor of cigs evens things out.

But you are correct in that not a lot of folks kill someone for personal use tobacco money, at least in the modern era. And no one has ever died from tobacco withdrawal to my understanding.

Freegards

[ladyjane]

Twenty years ago I would say that 40-50% of the students were at least social smokers. Today, I doubt that number is even at 10%.

It depends on your college. If you have many foreign students you will have many smokers.

[Trillian]

Fake news. Watch for we need to raise more cig taxes or fund more programs for da poor with taxpayer money.

[Flaming Conservative]

Full disclosure — I am NOT a smoker. I’ve had patients who could not afford food, or decent housing, but by golly they had cigarettes and would not even consider quitting.

[Flaming Conservative]

I am in favor of higher cigarette taxes.
1) may motivate someone to quit.
2) it takes a lot more money to provide health care to smokers.
3) smoking stinks.
I’ve heard all the “taking away my rights” remarks, and maybe that’s so, but smoking effects other people, not just the smoker. And if people saved the money they would spend on a pack of cigarettes a day, they’d have enough to take a vacation, in a year.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

I was a 40 year smoker i started VAPING dont even use nicotine there are millions who quit smoking for vaping now the government looks to regulate it to like smoking but its non addictive because there’s absolutely nothing in it wit 0 nicotine you end up with water vapor !