I’ve gone back and forth on this issue. I agree that the more they tax these smokers the fewer smokers there will be (or black market sales) and the less income to the coffers. I also agree that no smokers at all would be a super huge reduction in health care costs so the fewer there are the better. The down side is the tax & spend mentality. When the smokers go away, the dem’s will never spend less, they will just raise taxes on all the non-smokers’ income to cover their expensive menu of entitlement services they’ve created. so for that reason, I say no more cigarette taxes and no more programs that need to be funded.
The SCHIP program is some of the worst spending of all. I in noway support that. However, too many so called conservatives here turn a blind eye to kids and the addictions of smoking.
Adults don’t smoke. Teenagers smoke and then become adults after it’s way too late to quit.
This is debatable. For most of us, the bulk of our health care costs will be incurred during the last two years of our lives. Doesn't matter if we are 18 and dying of leukemia, 55 and dying of lung cancer or 90 and dying of heart disease.
One thing about all these non smokers who retire at 65 and live healthily for another 20+ years is that they're not only racking up routine medical costs associated with aging but they're collecting a lot more social security and pension checks than their smoking counterparts who had the good nature to die earlier. And as far as medical costs go, lung cancer is pretty cheap to treat. Give the patient pain killers, make them comfortable and help them find peace in their final days. That's really about it.