# Why the HELL does anyone smoke?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-anyone-smoke/2214>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [August 10, 1999, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-anyone-smoke/2214 "1999-08-10T19:10:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 9

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**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 1999, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-hell-does-anyone-smoke/2214/161 "1999-09-15T05:33:00Z")

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Cigarettes are an easy form of taxation because the demand is ‘inelastic’ i.e. it doesn’t go down much as the price increases. So it’s a sure revenue getter. Other taxes are tricky, because the increase in price cuts demand and the revenue increase won’t be as much, or may even be negative (as happened with the luxury tax).

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