(BC) - New Tobacco Law starting March 31/08

[BestOffer]

Will this even help?!

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5424/ccf1503200800000an3.jpg

[cwb27]

The first section has been Ontario for sometime now.

The second part will be Ontario very, very soon (or already??) Can't remember the date...

[Ebola]

Tomacco is for noobs.

[cwb27]

Tomacco is for noobs.

MOOREE TOOOMMAACOOOOOOOOOOO

[Octavius]

MOOREE TOOOMMAACOOOOOOOOOOO

You're right, these tomatoes DO taste like grandma.

[just_For_ipod]

Will this even help?!

EDIT:
Of course not, I guess its a start, It will help a bit but people still break the rules all the time and its hardly even enforced. I see people smoking in bus shelters and outside the doorway of malls, hospitals, you name it.

My solution/a better solution...
I'm so gonna be flamed for this comment:o ....but....

Ban Tobacco! No tobaaco sales, and illegal to use anywhere in Canada!

Of course people are going to say that they can't quit smoking, so how about every single year the age limit for smoking increases. In about a hundred years smoking will be totally Banned!
By then I'll probably have cancer from second hand smoking though.....:mad:

As for choice? Screw choice, if its illegal to harm others, then it should be illegal to harm yourself(I think there is some sort of law for this), and therefore smoking should be illegal.

[mlc2000]

Are u addicted to second hand smoke?

[nuropa]

Of course not, people still break the rules all the time and its hardly even enforced. I see people smoking in bus shelters and outside the doorway of malls, hospitals, you name it.


I believe it does help, even if smokers follow these rules only half of the time, that's half less smoke in public area. Making it hard for smokers may give them the extra incentive to break the habit. Compare to some other countries, Canada has far less smokers and this will only help it further.

[st7860]

anyone recall what cigarettes are called in Britain?

[cwb27]

anyone recall what cigarettes are called in Britain?

Fags.

Anymore brain busters?

[importpsycho]

WTF? first two are already law isn't it?
3rd, some what, lotta buildings, especailly school, have no smoking signs near the doors
4th is new to me

[BestOffer]

EDIT:
Of course not, I guess its a start, It will help a bit but people still break the rules all the time and its hardly even enforced. I see people smoking in bus shelters and outside the doorway of malls, hospitals, you name it.

My solution/a better solution...
I'm so gonna be flamed for this comment:o ....but....

Ban Tobacco! No tobaaco sales, and illegal to use anywhere in Canada!

Of course people are going to say that they can't quit smoking, so how about every single year the age limit for smoking increases. In about a hundred years smoking will be totally Banned!
By then I'll probably have cancer from second hand smoking though.....:mad:

As for choice? Screw choice, if its illegal to harm others, then it should be illegal to harm yourself(I think there is some sort of law for this), and therefore smoking should be illegal.

why why not simply sell $50 a pack?

to be frank, after ppl smoke and get on the skytrain, i could still smell his tobacco inside the train sitting in front of him...those are 2nd hand smoke too!

[Badger]

I absolutely hate it when people smoke in bus lineup and the smoke blows directly to you, and if you walk away, you lose your spot.

As for increasing the cost, I agree that increasing the tobacco tax to a certain level to subsidize the current health care system that is running inefficiently.

[M-e-X-x]

good to see vancouver catching up with the times :razz:

[AL3X]

This is simply ridiculous

[Lava]

This is simply ridiculous

I don't see why it is?

[AL3X]

I don't see why it is?

Because i live in denial :( sigh...

[mlc2000]

why why not simply sell $50 a pack?



Last time Ontario had cigarettes around $10/pack, the black market simply stepped in and filled the void. Smokers were getting their smokes for $6-7/pack and the government was losing out on ALL tax revenues so they had to lower taxes again, to make it unprofitable for the black market.
Funny thing was, big tobacco was well aware that sales to the US Indian reserves had increased almost 400% during this time period, so they never lost out on sales.

I studied cigarette taxes in Macro Economics.

Firstly, the amount of revenue generated by cigarette taxes does not come close to covering 50% of the associated costs to the health system.

Secondly, the cost to the health system for cigarette related disease, is 4X greater than the cost of drug and alcohol costs combined, yet the amount the government allocates to prevent smoking is less than 10% of that which is allocated to drug and alcohol prevention.

Fact is , the patch and the gum and whatever other prevention system is available, should be free (subsidized by the government) It would be cheaper for the government to give it away and reduce health care costs, than try the cat and mouse game with taxes. .Forget ad campaigns, kids are still gonna try smoking because its their way of rebelling / being cool. If the patch and the gum or whatever is the same price or more than cigarettes, users aren't going to quit.

This is really no different than giving junkies clean needles, and I believe its an easier sell.

I just know that people will comment that obesity is a significant problem, so why the attack on smokers? Well smoking has far greater reaching affects. When was the last time you heard about someone dying from second hand obesity?
Unless a fat guy fell on someone.

[jimsmith]

why why not simply sell $50 a pack?
any time the government increases the price of tobacco it just opens the door for the the illegal trade.
I have seen the retards at work buying huge bags full of Indian reserve smokes for $20. and i have tried to warn them that they are are now smoking a mixture of floor sweepings,tobacco and ground up used bingo cards.

[Ebola]

any time the government increases the price of tobacco it just opens the door for the the illegal trade.
I have seen the retards at work buying huge bags full of Indian reserve smokes for $20. and i have tried to warn them that they are are now smoking a mixture of floor sweepings,tobacco and ground up used bingo cards.

Don't forget feces.

[Arkaine]

Last time Ontario had cigarettes around $10/pack, the black market simply stepped in and filled the void. Smokers were getting their smokes for $6-7/pack and the government was losing out on ALL tax revenues so they had to lower taxes again, to make it unprofitable for the black market.
Funny thing was, big tobacco was well aware that sales to the US Indian reserves had increased almost 400% during this time period, so they never lost out on sales.

I studied cigarette taxes in Macro Economics.

Firstly, the amount of revenue generated by cigarette taxes does not come close to covering 50% of the associated costs to the health system.

Secondly, the cost to the health system for cigarette related disease, is 4X greater than the cost of drug and alcohol costs combined, yet the amount the government allocates to prevent smoking is less than 10% of that which is allocated to drug and alcohol prevention.

Fact is , the patch and the gum and whatever other prevention system is available, should be free (subsidized by the government) It would be cheaper for the government to give it away and reduce health care costs, than try the cat and mouse game with taxes. .Forget ad campaigns, kids are still gonna try smoking because its their way of rebelling / being cool. If the patch and the gum or whatever is the same price or more than cigarettes, users aren't going to quit.

This is really no different than giving junkies clean needles, and I believe its an easier sell.

I just know that people will comment that obesity is a significant problem, so why the attack on smokers? Well smoking has far greater reaching affects. When was the last time you heard about someone dying from second hand obesity?
Unless a fat guy fell on someone.

Great post.
I was also going to comment about the Tax Revenue vs Health care spending problem.

I think it's ridiculous that I have to suffer because someone else doesn't have respect for their own body.
Flame me all you want with that comment, but it's absurd that we allow something to continue that is so devastating to our bodies.

We laugh now when we look back and try to comprehend how people thought slavery was alright.. years in the future people will look back and laugh at us as they try to comprehend how we thought smoking was alright!

[Jucius Maximus]

It is a good start, but I would love to see smoking eliminated in any multi-dwelling building. I still get second-hand smoke transferring from my neighbour.

[mlc2000]

It is a good start, but I would love to see smoking eliminated in any multi-dwelling building. I still get second-hand smoke transferring from my neighbour.

Sounds like you need a new door sweep.

[Emancipated]

why why not simply sell $50 a pack?

to be frank, after ppl smoke and get on the skytrain, i could still smell his tobacco inside the train sitting in front of him...those are 2nd hand smoke too!

YOu're SO DAMN NAIVE!

Do yo know how much tax the government collects on tobacco sales? They are not trying to curtail smokers, it's just a guise for their greed. There are a number of solutions to curtail or completely eradicate 2nd hand smoke exposure but they won't do d1ck all to enforce them. These laws are nothing more than a paper tiger as far as I'm concerned.

[Nikita]

EDIT:
Of course not, I guess its a start, It will help a bit but people still break the rules all the time and its hardly even enforced. I see people smoking in bus shelters and outside the doorway of malls, hospitals, you name it.

My solution/a better solution...
I'm so gonna be flamed for this comment:o ....but....

Ban Tobacco! No tobaaco sales, and illegal to use anywhere in Canada!

Of course people are going to say that they can't quit smoking, so how about every single year the age limit for smoking increases. In about a hundred years smoking will be totally Banned!
By then I'll probably have cancer from second hand smoking though.....:mad:

As for choice? Screw choice, if its illegal to harm others, then it should be illegal to harm yourself(I think there is some sort of law for this), and therefore smoking should be illegal.

Yeah, that will work about as good as prohibition and the war on drugs...:rolleyes: The government will be spending more of our money hunting the smoke boogey man unsuccessfully and will at the same time forego the massive taxes they receive from the sale of tobacco. Education is the only way to achieve any measure of success. These heavy-handed measures, criminalizing people for smoking a legal product that the government recieves the highest percentage of the cost, criminalizing merchants for advertising (shortly in Ontario, even making visible) the sale of legal wares haven't worked, won't work and are a waste of time and resources. Education is the only chance we have of people making the right choices....for the right reasons.

[BestOffer]

then cover up the illegal trade markets...things can be done

[Ebola]

We (law enforcement) can't even slow up the contraband cigarette trade now with tobacco legal, and there are big seizures being made every day which are barely putting a dent in the supply chain.

Make cigs illegal = lost tax revenue and insane black market.

[just_For_ipod]

We (law enforcement) can't even slow up the contraband cigarette trade now with tobacco legal, and there are big seizures being made every day which are barely putting a dent in the supply chain.

Make cigs illegal = lost tax revenue and insane black market.

Or do what I propose, make it illegal with an increment of legal age. Like I said, after a hundred years, smoking will be totally illegal. Besides, if you made smoking illegal, regardless of how big the black market is, people won't be able to smoke in plain sight or risk being fined? jailed?

[Billa-786]

I studied cigarette taxes in Macro Economics.

Firstly, the amount of revenue generated by cigarette taxes does not come close to covering 50% of the associated costs to the health system.

Secondly, the cost to the health system for cigarette related disease, is 4X greater than the cost of drug and alcohol costs combined, yet the amount the government allocates to prevent smoking is less than 10% of that which is allocated to drug and alcohol prevention.
Fact is , the patch and the gum and whatever other prevention system is available, should be free (subsidized by the government) It would be cheaper for the government to give it away and reduce health care costs, than try the cat and mouse game with taxes. .Forget ad campaigns, kids are still gonna try smoking because its their way of rebelling / being cool. If the patch and the gum or whatever is the same price or more than cigarettes, users aren't going to quit.

This is really no different than giving junkies clean needles, and I believe its an easier sell.

I just know that people will comment that obesity is a significant problem, so why the attack on smokers? Well smoking has far greater reaching affects. When was the last time you heard about someone dying from second hand obesity?
Unless a fat guy fell on someone.

Are you sure about these stats? From what I remember in school, Alcohol related healthcare costs in the US were much higher. The total cost of alcohol related healthcare problems is around $175 billion a year compared to around $140 billion for smoking. I could be wrong, but alcohol is up there right next to smoking if not more. Definitely not 4 times like you mentioned. Yet you dont see as much scrutiny of the alcohol industry.

Yeah, that will work about as good as prohibition and the war on drugs...:rolleyes: The government will be spending more of our money hunting the smoke boogey man unsuccessfully and will at the same time forego the massive taxes they receive from the sale of tobacco. Education is the only way to achieve any measure of success. These heavy-handed measures, criminalizing people for smoking a legal product that the government recieves the highest percentage of the cost, criminalizing merchants for advertising (shortly in Ontario, even making visible) the sale of legal wares haven't worked, won't work and are a waste of time and resources. Education is the only chance we have of people making the right choices....for the right reasons.

I agree, education is the only thing that has been working and will work.

[Instagator]

LoL.

I love smoking ciggies.. MMmmm.

In any case... I still pay the premium of 10 bucks a pack for belmonts, gotta love those charcoil filters. W00t. Besides, the more expensive the packs are, the more people gonna fill that void with native ciggies. What.. 22 dollars for a carton of natives? So that's 2.20 per pack which includes tax. LOL - You can even buy the natives at the duty free for 12 bucks.. Ahahaha.

Smoking is here to stay. Those laws are jokes. Still smoking everywhere (well.. except for indoors)

[dougi3000]

smoke free starting day, yay.
someone go tell the CEO. O_O