Ill Cigarette tax $3.98/pack

[Mr._Graybeard]

Somewhere a bunch of old hippies are laughing.

 

[NW-Bound]

that's why they have edibles, tinctures, vapes and dabs

it's not 1985 pops!

Is it legal to extract or synthesize THC down to a pill? If not, then why not?

Just let people go for the "active ingredient", and spare them all these toxic smoke inhalants, or obesity-inducing cookies, etc...

Remember that people can buy nicotine patches, or alcohol in nearly pure form.

 

[MRG]

that's why they have edibles, tinctures, vapes and dabs

it's not 1985 pops!

[emoji23]

+1. If you told me in 1985 future me would take legal cannabis that had nice big buds I squished or baked I know I wouldn't have believe either. I think squishing and baking would have been the most unbelievable.

A disturbing trend I see is folks doing blunts, a tobacco wrapper for smoking. People like them as they give a nicotine buzz to the cannabis high. While I appreciate that, as an ex-tobacco junkie I won't touch them.

Actually I had an interesting discussion with a PA recently about a possible cervical spine surgery. Her questions were all about nicotine use in any form. Me - No, I don't use tobacco but I use cannabis. Her - I don't care about cannabis but you can't have any nicotine in your system prior to surgery.

 

[MRG]

Is it legal to extract or synthesize THC down to a pill? If not, then why not?

Just let people go for the "active ingredient", and spare them all these toxic smoke inhalants, or obesity-inducing cookies, etc... [emoji23]

Remember that people can buy nicotine patches, or alcohol in nearly pure form.

Yes, tincture can be bought or easily made at home. Last month I took an ounce of cannabis and distilled it down to a 50ml bottle of tincture of 190 everclear. Only took an hour, most waiting on the oven. Only need a couple drops under the tounge to medicate.

Pure THC? You can get close, some folks are squishing rosin and post processing into THC diamonds. That may not be legal in all the "legal" states.

 

[samclem]

I dunno.

If smokers all quit, fewer people would die from cancer or other smoke-related illnesses. They then die of old-age Alzheimer or something like that, which costs even more to treat.

A similar argument was put forward by the tobacco companies during the big lawsuits. They wanted credit for the favorable impact on Social Security of early tobacco-caused mortality.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Monetary costs of smoking? It looks like per-pack taxes need to be high to recoup just the government cost, to say nothing of the total societal costs.
From this site:
In the US, about 13.5 billion packs of cigarettes are consumed every year. So, just to recoup the federal health care expenditures due to smoking (not lost tax revenues, private health care costs, etc), the feds would need to tax them at $6.75 per pack. The states would need to add more.

looks like someone forgot to subtract the present value of SS and Medicare savings from all the premature deaths - my guess is that smoking SAVES $$$, not vice versa

the "societal" costs, etc, are merely propaganda, IMO

 

[Andre1969]

looks like someone forgot to subtract the present value of SS and Medicare savings from all the premature deaths - my guess is that smoking SAVES $$$, not vice versa

the "societal" costs, etc, are merely propaganda, IMO

Also, how would you factor in other things, such as the profit and taxes the tobacco companies generate? Many tobacco companies are traded on the stock market, so there's a good chance that their buried in a lot of people's mutual funds, 401ks, IRAs, etc, somewhere.

 

[NW-Bound]

looks like someone forgot to subtract the present value of SS and Medicare savings from all the premature deaths - my guess is that smoking SAVES $$$, not vice versa

the "societal" costs, etc, are merely propaganda, IMO

We do not want people to die too prematurely from smoke. They should live long enough to work to pay into the SS fund.

A solution would be to make cigarette cheaper with age, in order to encourage consumption as people get older.

An actuary can have fun computing how cigarettes should be priced as a function of the buyer's age.

 

[NW-Bound]

Also, how would you factor in other things, such as the profit and taxes the tobacco companies generate? Many tobacco companies are traded on the stock market, so there's a good chance that their buried in a lot of people's mutual funds, 401ks, IRAs, etc, somewhere.

The gummint already took a big chunk of that profit via higher taxes.

That squeezes off the sales, so now they want more taxes.

 

[Big_Hitter]

We do not want people to die too prematurely from smoke. They should live long enough to work to pay into the SS fund.

A solution would be to make cigarette cheaper with age, in order to encourage consumption as people get older.

An actuary can have fun computing how cigarettes should be priced as a function of the buyer's age.

most that die prematurely have already paid in 40 quarters

what do actuaries know anyway?

 

[Big_Hitter]

Also, how would you factor in other things, such as the profit and taxes the tobacco companies generate? Many tobacco companies are traded on the stock market, so there's a good chance that their buried in a lot of people's mutual funds, 401ks, IRAs, etc, somewhere.

great point

 

[NW-Bound]

most that die prematurely have already paid in 40 quarters

what do actuaries know anyway?

No, we want them to pay in much more than 40 quarters. Up to the SS age, they must work.

Actuaries can use statistics in order to crank out pricing formulas for maximizing the, er, benefits of encouraging cigarette usage.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Actuaries can use statistics in order to crank out pricing formulas for maximizing the, er, benefits of encouraging cigarette usage.

sounds fun - how do I apply?

 

[Badger]

Well, if smoking MJ is better than smoking tobacco, then we should encourage cigarette smokers to switch.

I want to hear more about the person who smokes the same amount of MJ as they did tobacco. Somehow I don't think they would get past the second or third one. Certainly not much more.



Cheers!

 

[Nemo2]

Somehow I don't think they would get past the second or third one.

At that time they'd be attempting to figure out how to use the phone so that they could order pizza.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

"Ill" cigarettes?? Shouldn't that be ill smokers?

I remember quitting at 1:18 PM Central time on March 18, 1985. I was taking up SCUBA diving and was told that if I didn't quit I'd regret it. Not sure if that's true, but I had been trying to screw up the courage for a while so I decided that was my last butt and I could never, ever, put one in my mouth again. I had seen too many ex-smokers decide to have "just one" in the bar and then they were smoking again. Quitting was probably the smartest thing I ever did, right behind choosing DW and starting an IRA at age 24.

Besides the expense, it seems that smoking these days would be a major PITA considering how many places prohibit it. Gone (thankfully) are the days of puffing away at your desk or in the aisles of the grocery store. I described that to some of the "kids" at work before I RE'd, and I'm not sure they didn't think I was making it up.

 

[Buckeye]

I dunno.

If smokers all quit, fewer people would die from cancer or other smoke-related illnesses. They then die of old-age Alzheimer or something like that, which costs even more to treat.

My mother, a 65+ year smoker, lived to nearly 85 and she cost Medicare a ton of money! One of the breathing treatment medications cost Medicare (it was paid under Part B so her F supplement covered the copay thankfully) over $600 per month. Other very expensive medications were covered by Part D. I'm glad the meds helped her live longer with some quality of life but the whole thing was such an incredible waste of healthcare resources brought on by the stupid choice to smoke for so many years.

 

[Amethyst]

I had the same experience at work. The young employees could scarcely believe smoking was allowed at work, which it was until 1990. "Eeeww, you had to breathe all that smoke all day?" Yep. And I got sick a lot more often than normal, too.

"Ill" cigarettes?? Shouldn't that be ill smokers?

Gone (thankfully) are the days of puffing away at your desk or in the aisles of the grocery store. I described that to some of the "kids" at work before I RE'd, and I'm not sure they didn't think I was making it up.

 

[NW-Bound]

Up until the early 80's, I was able to walk 15' from my cubicle to the cigarette vending machine placed in the hall.

 

[MRG]

I had the same experience at work. The young employees could scarcely believe smoking was allowed at work, which it was until 1990. "Eeeww, you had to breathe all that smoke all day?" Yep. And I got sick a lot more often than normal, too.

I started my IT career in 84, smoking was allowed in the building then. When we were in a 3 month training class with 15 people the non-smoking group wanted the smokers moved to the back of the room. Oh my, you thought smoking was in the Constitution. I think by the late 80s at most of Megacorp was smoke free.

 

[Amethyst]

Yes, one had to listen to a lot of bleating about "smokers' rights." As if the rest of us had no right to clean air.

Oh my, you thought smoking was in the Constitution. .

 

[scrabbler1]

The anti-smoking movement made some big strides back in the late 1980s and early 1990s to improve my daily life. In 1988, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) banned smoking on its New York City metro area commuter railroads, including the Long Island Rail Road. Up to that point, smoking had been allowed on one or two cars of each LIRR train, an annoyance which often caused overcrowding in the remaining non-smoking cars, especially the ones near the smoking cars. Sometimes, I had to walk through a smoking car because of short platform length which did not allow boarding in every train car. Trying to hold my breath as I quickly walked through one of those gas chambers was a challenge. I was elated when the MTA made this most welcome change.


And in 1991, when my old company relocated to a new building in lower Manhattan, smoking was not permitted in all the entire building, including private offices. This greatly improved the air quality in my work area compared to before, when it took only a few smokers scattered around to foul up the air for everyone.


In between those two years, smoking was banned on most domestic US commercial airline flights, in 1990. I was still flying pretty regularly back in those days, so knowing that I could book a non-smoking seat anywhere on the plane, especially near the rear where the second-hand smoking section was the most pronounced, was most welcome.


Throughout the 1990s, I repeatedly wrote and met with my state and local legislators demanding smoke-free air in all public places such as movie theaters and restaurants. It took until the end of that decade for stronger laws to finally get passed, but it is nice to finally be able to take smoke-free air in those places for granted, instead of always being nervous like I was in the 1970s and much of the 1980s.

 

[adrift]

In between those two years, smoking was banned on most domestic US commercial airline flights, in 1990. I was still flying pretty regularly back in those days, so knowing that I could book a non-smoking seat anywhere on the plane, especially near the rear where the second-hand smoking section was the most pronounced, was most welcome.

Prior to this, the airlines picked a row where smoking was allowed in seats behind but not forward of. This must have been difficult for them to manage, particularly as it was just at the advent of the digital age. Many smokers didn't want to sit in this area because it was a concentrated toxic area. So, many booked non-smoking seats and then went to hang out near the rear bathrooms when they wanted to smoke. Obviously, this made using these bathrooms a challenge for everyone else.

I didn't travel a lot on business at this time. But, on one trip, I checked in without a pre-assigned seat. I was told the only seat available was in the middle of the smoking section. I objected to this. They told me there was nothing they could do. I pointed out that the federal law at that point said that they would have to move the line between smoking and non-smoking to the row behind me. This wasn't ideal for me because I was still going to be on the edge of the smoking section. Maybe I was a jerk to make a few dozen smokers that had already been assigned a seat be told they couldn't smoke. But, it only took the airline a few minutes to find that they actually did have another seat nowhere near the smoking section.

 

[MRG]

Prior to this, the airlines picked a row where smoking was allowed in seats behind but not forward of. This must have been difficult for them to manage, particularly as it was just at the advent of the digital age. Many smokers didn't want to sit in this area because it was a concentrated toxic area. So, many booked non-smoking seats and then went to hang out near the rear bathrooms when they wanted to smoke. Obviously, this made using these bathrooms a challenge for everyone else.

I didn't travel a lot on business at this time. But, on one trip, I checked in without a pre-assigned seat. I was told the only seat available was in the middle of the smoking section. I objected to this. They told me there was nothing they could do. I pointed out that the federal law at that point said that they would have to move the line between smoking and non-smoking to the row behind me. This wasn't ideal for me because I was still going to be on the edge of the smoking section. Maybe I was a jerk to make a few dozen smokers that had already been assigned a seat be told they couldn't smoke. But, it only took the airline a few minutes to find that they actually did have another seat nowhere near the smoking section.

I don't think you were a jerk. I'm an ex-smoker and when I traveled during those years I didn't sit in smoking or smoke in the plane. It was enough to make a two pack a day Camel non-filter smoker sick.

 

[Aerides]

I was a in college, en route home back to school on my one smoking flight I ever took. This was back in the days when my Mom booked my flights (she was paying) and I always complained that she put me in non-smoking, but this one time...

Well the flight was late to take off, not terribly, but at least 30 mins. I swear everyone in that section had a cigarette in their mouth with a lighter at the ready and there was a cheer the second the non smoking light went off once we cleared the required altitude.

That section, smoke and smell aside, was quite a party. Maybe it was just that flight, but there was a smoker's camaraderie of sorts.

But yeah a non smoker could not even (I quit a few years after that). I mean I hate Vegas for this very reason. Since all the casinos have smoke-able lobbies for the slots, it wafts up the elevators and into the rooms, and you carry it on your clothing. And seems everyone on the strip is a smoker.