In Ireland
Roughly six euro of the seven fifty price tag on a box of smokes goes to the government.

I am a 30 a day smoker, this means that every day I give 9 euro to the government. That works out at 3276 a year. Now I have been smoking for 15 years, (I know the amount I smoke has changed, as has the price of a box of smokes.) for arguments sake lets call this 45,000 euro. Google thinks there are close enough to 1 million smokers in Ireland, that means that in the last 15 years the government has taxed us roughly 45 billion euros for the privilage of smoking. They are earning more than three billion a year from ciggerette sales alone! And Ireland is a small country in comparison to pretty much anywhere else.

If they invested any more than a fraction of this into anti-smoking campaigns, health care for smokers etc then I think there might be a slightly better situation here than there is now. But it suits the government to take this money. Hell, it's the same with drink, except even more people drink!

To be honest, no one has to worry too much about their tax money going to help the poor dying smoker, they have probably paid for it (or alot of it anyway) themselves over their smoking career. (Especially the long term ones)

Not to mention of course that they are paying VAT, Income Tax etc with the rest of you too.


EDIT : Also, how could second hand smoke NOT harm people? There is not a chance in hell that I would smoke any where near my kid, or in anyones presence if they even had the slightest problem with it.
(oeb, Tue 25 Mar 2008, 12:51, Reply)