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The cost of lung pollutants better known as cigarettes will increase Wednesday throughout Connecticut. To minimize the financial impact you might want to consider saving your pennies and recycling.
Tomorrow “the per-pack tax will climb from 39 cents to $1.01. That’s a particular hit to smokers in Connecticut, which has a state cigarette tax of $2.” [Amanda Cuta. “Mixed feelings about tax hike.” Connecticut Post 31 March 2009]
Some state residents say the cost of one cigarette pack is “expensive enough.” I’m positive you know who I’m referring to so there’s no need for names. It’s the person you stand behind in line at the gas station. You know the one who grumbles about the price of cigarettes as they reach deep in their pocket for that extra quarter to support their habit.
They have other priorities like paying their utilitiy bills, health insurance, mortgage, car note, etc. That extra $55 they must set aside for cigarettes means more personal budget cuts. Perhaps they’ll have to stop dining at area fast food restaurants or rent movies at home as opposed to going to the cinema. Maybe, they’ll find a healthier, alternative solution and kick their cigarette habit.
Let’s be honest. It’s not just a habit; it is an addiction. But few health nuts are sympathetic to that. A cigarette tax increase means less second-hand smoke while passing by the Hartford and New Haven clubs on the weekends. Maybe there’ll be an increase in gym memberships; working out is a lot cheaper than a smoking cigarettes and a great way to relieve stress. Plus, you’ll look freakin’ fabulous for the summer.
Connecticut residents can imagine what the future holds due to a tax increase. One thing is certain. It will definitely impact all of our lives in some way, shape or form.
Comments
if i wanna smoke i wanna smoke. ct and this damn increase can kiss my butt. they will not get my money for a pack of ciggs not at $8.oo. do you know how many people are either going to but the cheaper ones or not smoke at all or go smoke weed let's not kid ourselves there will be more headache to come. you see they stole 90.000$'s worth of ciggs and yeah i think it's funnt. i'd like to buy some anyhoo more trouble for ct
So we'll just quit and the extra tax money won't go where it's supposed to go, and then, the cig companies will ask for a bailout.
Progress?
I think anti-smokers are probably some of the most idiotic people I know. They are so narrow minded they cant see the big picture.
You can tax away everything bad for you until there is nothing bad left. As long as everyone is fine being a vegan who rides their bike to work everyday this is fine. But when you ride the slipperly slope at the water park you eventually get to the bottom. If you want the government to dictate what we buy through taxes you are indeed a moron. They start with easy targets like cigarettes eventually the revenue dries up because so many people have quit. So they need to find a new product to tax people out of using... ammo? that revenue stream dries up. Sugary drinks perhaps? that dries up.. alcohol? that dries up. Eventually there will be a time when they get to a product you enjoy and tax the hell out of it.
Smoking has been on the decline for the past 50 years... and cigarette tax revenue will be almost completely gone in the near future... but the revenue will still be needed... so they will move onto a new products. Just because the tax doesn't hit you today doesn't mean you wont be paying for the consequences down the road. And when gasoline tax is $1 a gallon you will probably be missing the days when putting up with 2nd hand smoke saved you hundreds of dollars a year.
i support a gym membership tax. thats already expensive enough too. how would you like to pay more for what you enjoy? it's a free country, and if you really think second hand smoke walking down the street of a club strip is bad...uh...go home! or try jogging along a 4 lane busy roadway, thats no better for you're lungs. (worse actually because of heavy breathing) i dont want to give any more money to our government than i already do. they waste it all. it's idiotic people like you that ruin this country
You people think you're everyone's mommy. Are you going to tell us what to eat and how much to exercise, next? What happens to the revenue you hope to collect when there are no more people left to tax? Whatever will the children do? You libtards use the kids for everything! You tax cigarettes to pay for a healthcare issue- as if the irony isn't hillarious on it's face, by itself, and you're funding a social program with a limited and dwindling income. Way to go you dummies. How about you stop trying to pretend you know everything better for people, than the people themselves, and butt the hell out of people's lives? What's next, mandatory condoms for unmarried tax filers? Wait- a tax on office supply budgets to give a credit for small business purchases of paper and pencils. I have a better one- let's tax the internet to bail out the failing news papers. Tax on coke to give a credit for diet coke drinkers? (because sugar is bad. Aspartame is good.)
you are soooooo lame you c|_|nt
first of all, saying that setting aside money for cigarettes rather than for FAST FOOD OR WATCHING MOVIES is such a contradiction. If you are going to write an article you can not be so biased, this article is ridiculous, it's as if a seven year old wrote it. there are no strong points and many of them are contradictory. The consequences of fast food is clearly UNHEALTHY. watching TV, clearly unhealthy. why are you advertising cigarettes to be the WORST thing in the world when there are plenty other people with other similar habits? And it's an addiction as well as pleasure. The person in the gas station is me, and you know why? because cigarettes are yummy. omnomnom. so shut up.
rthm nfhgg fffggf.
I dont read this paper but I would have to say a person from Hartford , a town loaded with crack whores and junkies .. might want to be a little less judgemental of smokers who contribute most of the taxes to support your methadone program .. odds are you're one of them.
this effin blows! im sick of them increasing the price of cigs.fkn crook politicians!
Hey there, Leigh. I don't know you, but judging from this article I don't like you.
I just thought you should know : It's an *addiction.* They're not making the choice to buy that next pack because they want to, they're doing it because they know how they'll feel if they don't. Yes, it was a dumb decision to smoke in the first place; we realize that. It was a dumb decision likely made while we were in our teens, being spoon-fed all kinds of misinformation.
Do you know how hard it is to push through a day of work, while simultaneously purging your body of addictive chemicals? It's not easy. In fact it's damn near impossible. You wouldn't ask a coke-head to do it, would you? Of course not, it's too dangerous. That's essentially what you're telling smokers to do in this article.
Although it peaks at 3 days ("3 day hump"), this is a process that takes around 10 days. 21 days if you include ridding yourself of those ritualistic habits they've accumulated over the years. So it's essentially choosing between 21 days of confusion and mental anguish, or forking over $8 for another pack of cigarettes... What would you choose?
It's not an easy choice to make, and it's plain ignorant to write it off like one.
P.S. Your blog's code is 2/3rds incompliant with web standards, I'd recommend fixing that.
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