Doctors Want New $2-per-pack Tax on Cigarettes
 

Tobacco a 'weapon of mass destruction'


Sunday, 01 June , 2003, 09:54

Chicago: A top US cancer specialist called tobacco a "weapon of mass destruction," and colleagues urged slapping an extra two-dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes and banning smoking in more public places.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology called for the steps as part of a wider crackdown on smoking-related diseases and deaths, which it billed as the world's number one public health threat.

In a keynote speech at the society's 39th annual meeting, ASCO president Paul Bunn criticised existing tobacco-control measures as fragmented and ineffective and said a more comprehensive approach was needed to combat what one expert called "an industry-made pandemic of preventable diseases."

"ASCO calls for an urgent and comprehensive review of the global tobacco issue -- on its many levels -- to achieve the total elimination of tobacco addiction and tobacco use," said Bunn. "Saving lives is our number one priority."

Cancer experts estimate that smoking-related illnesses were responsible for 100 million deaths in the last century, and will account for one billion in this century if the number of smokers continues to rise as projected.

The next 25 years will see "the largest industry-made pandemic of preventable diseases and early death in the recorded history of our world," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

"Indeed, today tobacco is the only weapon of mass destruction which is being used against people in all regions of the world," he said.

"We have the know-how to head this pandemic off, and thereby reduce human suffering from cancer and many, many, other diseases and save millions of lives over the course of the century."

Unveiling the organisation's new policy statement on tobacco here Saturday, Bunn called for an independent panel to be set up to examine the tobacco problem on all its various levels: health, commerce, industry, trade and regulation.

The blue-ribbon panel, he suggested, should develop a long-term strategy for regulating and reducing tobacco use.

In the meantime, the international community should take some immediate steps to tackle the problem, by increasing the emphasis on international tobacco control; increasing tobacco taxes; restricting advertising and promotion even further, and requiring disclosure of ingredients in tobacco products.

In its new policy statement, ASCO, -- the world's leading group of cancer specialists -- said that global efforts at tobacco-control had been unsuccessful, except in limited circumstances.

But the organisation saved its harshest criticism for US authorities, saying the United States "must take responsibility not only for its failures to control tobacco in this country, but also for pursuit of agricultural and trade policies that contribute significantly to disease and deaths from tobacco globally."

Soon you will have Norwegian conditions. Here a 20 pack costs 8$

they are almost 8 bucks a pack here in canada, luckily i quit over 3 years ago. i wouldn't doubt in 50 years or so they tried to make it illegal.

Just dont smoke if ya got em....

420 is better anways

My father smoked for 40+ years. He finally quit a couple years ago, but had since become addicted to nicotine gum.

He just had a heart attack on Friday, and he's in the hospital right now. They just moved him out of intensive care today into a normal room.

Gotta love those smokes.

Anybody that would start smoking cigarettes in this day and age when everyone knows the damage they cause is just plain retarded. I say tax the fuck out of them.

I'd rather smoke crack. At least it gets you off.

I hope he comes out of this OK. He's only 60.

ban tabacco and make weed legal

lol sounds like Canada. Hear we pay 10 bucks for a pack. That in is Manitoba, and its higher in other provinces.

that IS what is hapenning in Canada :1orglaugh

:ak47: cig smokers
:thumbsup pot smokers

wait a minute... that doesn't make much sense...

:helpme :feels-hot

I quit smoking and so should you :thumbsup

how much is a six pack?

Smoking is death. I'll break the 72 hour period of physical addiction in about 5 hours.

I'll never pick up another cig again!

way to go :thumbsup

cool. quit while ya can everybody :)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we refer to as "the stupid tax". And I do not mean by that a tax which is itself stupid. :)

I'm so happy for this tax. Especially me and and all the people who don't smoke are really sick and fucking tired of all those idiots who are smoking in our faces. More taxes means more idiots who are smoking now will quit smoking :thumbsup for those doctors.

:thumbsup

There is no tax to be happy about....just because a doctor said he thinks it should be done doesn't mean shit.

Also, I don't really see any new taxes on the tobacco industry anytime soon.
Remember that settlement they made with all the state attorney generals to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars? Well they're paying that over a period of 25 years, and most of the states have already allocated those funds, meaning they're counting on them to make their budgets.
Now the government is in bed with tobacco and they need them to remain solvent so they can keep making those 2.5 billion dollar payments every month.

My :2 cents:

Punks never quit, i enjoy my health amount of daily smokes at it fullest.

fuck it..
a baby toy is defective and kills 8 babies because the wheel comes off the little car and they choke..
What do they do? They recall the ENTIRE line of toys...

Smokes kill how many people a MINUTE? What do they do? Do they recall it? Nope..

Put a fucking tax of 10000% on cigs.. if people want to kill themselves and others with second hand smoke then lets all make enough profit to not only pay for the medical bills, but also medicare, welfare, and other civil services..

I would love to say that all smokers should be shot for being dumb enough to start smoking these days, but 1/2 of them are going to die a slow and painful death anyways, so that sends out a much more potent message

Here is a good link for you:


http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/cigarett.html


Does it suprise anybody that the lowest rate of tax per pack comes from the three states with the largest production of tobacco - Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina - all averaging a whopping $0.03 per pack. Does it suprise anybody that these three states have some of the worst education programs out there for grade schools? I saw a commercial that if they raised the tax by $0.25 per pack each state could increase their tax income by like $100 million per year. By shockingly, the vote to raise cig tax was fillabustered out so they never even got to vote on it. Gotta love those lobbiers!

I wish the Fed Govt would step in too and say they are charging an additional $1 per pack federal tax and say to any state out there who charges less than $0.50 a pack in tax loses government subsidies for important programs. Maybe even tie in additional funds to those that charge more per pack.

I wish every fucking smoker out there would sue the shit of their tobacco company and win billions of dollars - so that they had to go out of business.

Anybody starts smoking is a moron with such low self-estem that they have to start smoking at a young age to feel like they are accepted!

Alcohol will kill you much faster than tobacco if you abuse it, and yet we rarely see campaigns to urge people to stop drinking.

most people dont have a drink every 20 minutes they are awake.

Personally I can't stand cigarettes but it's your lungs, sniff paint for all I care. It's stupid to tax them so much, people are going to smoke it's not going to stop them. If it gets too expensive, they'll grow their own tobacco. Using the cigarette tax to fund good programs means that if you AREN'T buying cigarettes then you're hurting these programs.

Sadly, two members of my family did. Both of them died within a decade of falling in love with the bottle. Ironically, I've yet to know someone whose life was cut short by smoking. My grandma had trouble with her lungs, but she's now 80 and doing quite well (still goes bowling a few times a week!).

smokers suck - lol, get it?

no

Just wait until they start taxing fast food because it is bad for you...oh yes...that day will come.

:(

Looks like I quit in the nick of time.... 2 weeks smoke free after 10 years of heavy smoking!!! This isn't easy! :helpme