Sorry I should have been clearer. I agree the addiction is insidious.
However, making it prohibitively expensive I would argue is part of the reason smoking rates plummeted, as well as no indoor smoking and other smoking restrictions.
I’m only arguing that the illicit trade has been allowed to bloom, and that the black market could be massively curbed with actual enforcement.
And I’m being incredibly sarcastic because there’s often someone coming out of the internet woodwork to say that taxing tobacco isn’t effective.
That, there are people out there who think smoking is nice, which I think is really dumb, because the high really, really isn’t worth the cancer.
I totally get it’s very addictive and if you’ve started, it’s very hard to stop, and I sympathize with those people. Only having a go at the people who argue for removing the high taxes, and that smoking is a “personal choice”.
Kurroth@aussie.zone 1 week ago
The price increase vice tax is defs a thing that we should be doing, but it does fall over after a certain point as other countries have achieved the same smoking rates without going as high.
There is a sweet spot of taxed heavily, but not prohibitedly expensive where it generates revenue and keeps smoking rates low.
You will never stop the entire population from having smoker or a market for tobacco.