Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacks
I assume you have some evidence that youth programs don't work?
Raising taxes can be a deterrent but you have to be careful not to go too far or it becomes a profitable black market business which we already have seen.
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Prevention programs never work. Most kids know the dangers of smoking, they see the gross videos in school, if you were like me you saw Barb Tarbox in Jr. High. That didn't stop many people from at least trying smoking. Smoking is no different from pot or alcohol, kids are young and are going to experiment. Prevention programs have minimal effect, and I think spending more on them is wasteful. Better parenting would have more of an effect in my opinion.
When it comes to taxing too much, I used to agree with you, but now I don't because I realized that those who smoke are much more of a burden on the health care system than non-smokers, and prior to public smoking bans non-smokers could still feel the effects from smokers, making them incidentally cost more as well. I also considered things like lost tax revenue from declining sales of cigarettes, but I think the health care savings of fewer smokers could be substantial, and legalizing things like say marijuana and prostitution could help replace that tax money.