Hard to Fathom
A study conducted by the non-profit research group RTI on behalf of the NY state’s health department found that poor smokers in New York State spend about a quarter of their entire income on cigarettes. Wow. Since these people are making less than $30 K there it seems to me that $7500 is a whole bunch of money. You would think that would motivate them to quit? I guess not. Now think about how medical costs will be incurred by that $7500 habit over a lifetime? From COPD to cancer, these people will eventually burden society (because they have Medicaid) much more than anyone will every know. How about we set aside the tax that triples the cost of each pack and use it to pay for these peoples’ health costs instead of giving it to the state who basically does what they want with the money?
Related factoid: Alcohol addicts buy 60-90% of all the booze sold, so the booze industry depends on them, and fights tooth and nail to prevent any cessation programs, except for PR gestures. But then, that’s the holy profitmaking American Way, just like the “healthcare industry”. And the Supreme Court says booze suppliers and tobacco suppliers should have the right to spend all they want on buying political candidates at every level.
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It still amazes me how many of our patients, when offered assistance with tobacco cessation, decline even after discussing proven statistics and common sense (cost of cigarettes vs gallon of gas, risks of second hand smoke on others, job performance decline…)
Is it time to bring back the “LSMFT” (League to Save Mankind From Tobacco)?
When I was a very young child my mother gave up smoking to help the family make ends meet, financially. That was in the early 1950s, BEFORE the Surgeon General’s report linking smoking and cancer/lung disease.