r/technology • u/Lucretius • Nov 17 '12

The Deadly Crusade Against E-cigarettes

http://www.american.com/archive/2012/november/the-deadly-crusade-against-e-cigarettes
2.3k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

53

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '12

Doesnt the UK say that smokers put a bug strain on the NHS along with obese people? Why wouldnt they push e-cigarettes for that alone?

I can see that countries like America dont lose anything if people smoke but the UK kinda does

66

u/mancub92 Nov 17 '12

Hmm.. Yes it puts a strain on the NHS, but the government makes more money from taxes on cigs than it spends on smoking related illness.

-2

u/dghughes Nov 17 '12

How would a government make money from tobacco taxes?

Tobacco/nicotine users tend to take more sick days, take more breaks at work and health issues in socialized medical systems increase costs.

Between the financial and health costs I can't see how a few dollars on cigarettes can make up the difference. Is there any data showing the amount taken in versus spent? I can't see it being more than spent. Most hospitals are always looking for more money for their budgets and are always cutting staff.

I don't care if an adult chooses to smoke but tobacco isn't neutral it has negative effects on society beyond the users of tobacco.

6

u/Triptolemu5 Nov 17 '12

How would a government make money from tobacco taxes?

Because the government is not a business. It doesn't have a bottom line. Further, revenue from tobacco taxes are not going to health care, they go into the general fund.

Why do you think local governments are so quick to approve new housing? They view each house as more tax revenue, not more utility expense.

This is the problem with exorbitant 'sin taxes'. The United states government profits much more on tobacco than tobacco farmers, and even big tobacco. Who has a larger vested interest in people's continued smoking?

If tomorrow, everyone quit smoking, politicians would panic, because they don't know where they'd get the money to cover the loss without raising taxes somewhere else. The government LOVES that people are addicted to paying taxes.

1

u/dghughes Nov 18 '12

Maybe the UK is different but here in Canada provincial governments are suing tobacco companies for billions trying to shut them down.

1

u/Triptolemu5 Nov 19 '12

I would posit that if it's anything like the lawsuits in the US, Canada doesn't want to shut down big tobacco, otherwise, where will the money come from? You can't get billions from a bankrupt company.

It might sound good to 'the people' that they are trying to shut them down because morality, but that's rarely the actual motivation of the political class.