You bitch about cigarette prices?

The BBQ Pit
1

LOL Well last year, my Father died of Emphasema. He had found out he had it only 9 months before. Nearly 2 months after he found out, he had to quit working, he had to live on constant oxygen and had to have people do almost everything for him.
Ok so Last year in June, my Father woke up long before anyone else in the house did, and he couldn’t get put of bed. He tried and tried, and finally he did. He managed to get up to the bathroom, in getting there he needed something to support himself so he used the towell rack. That gave out under his weight. Well whatever time after he got out of there, he went a very short distance down the hall and simply collapsed.

I lived on the other side of town, not knowing any of this was going on. That night about 8pm, I get the phone call he is in the hospital in the emergency room. I had no idea my mom wasn’t telling me the whole truth. I got down there, and I was not prepared for what I saw. My Father was on life support, bruises everywhere on his body and tubes in his mouth and arms and just everywhere. I had no idea. Well several hours later the nurses realized there was no sense prolonging it any further and told us it was time to end it and we needed to give permission. See my fathers lungs had litteraly burst. The emphasema from all those years of smoking destroyed them.

I would give anything to have him back instead of having to talk to him through my tears. Having dreams about him at night, waking up in the midde of one to realize he wasnt here anymore and crying again.

You guys really need to find something better to do than complain about cigarette prices. They are going up in hopes that they will make you quit. I hope they hp up so high that you have to give up the car and house to keep smoking.

Do you want to be the next ones to find your father in the hospital with his lungs having holes in them? Never having had the chance to say goodbye to him and to have said you loved him one last time?

Stop please. There may still be time.

2

I am sorry for your loss.

However, prices are not being hiked to make us stop, if they wanted us to stop they could ban smokes. They don’t, they profit from it instead, knowing that people will continue to smoke.

The above story can, unfortunatly, be told about any bad habit. I could regail you with stories of how my fathers drinking finally knocked him to the floor with a brain haemmorage as my 6 year old brother watched. How we too had to make the call to pull the plug. Are you going to stop drinking alcohol because of it? Would I even ask you to?

Again I am sorry for your loss, but I interpret your post as bordering on emotional blackmail.

3

Ouch. Don’t think I’m treading on your grief here, but I’m going to put forward this reformed (six months clear!) smoker’s point of view :

There is everything to be angry - nay, bloody furious - about re the price of cigarettes. The price does NOT go up in the hope that people will quit, it is put up in the cynical and certain knowledge that there’ll be greater tax revenue as a result.

The handwringing of politicians as they justify the latest hike is nauseating to see. If they really give a toss about smokers, where are the massive subsidies for drugs to alleviate withdrawal symptoms? Where are the government-sponsored think-tanks working day and night on solutions to cure us of the dreadful habit? Where are the free copies of Allan Carr’s “Easy way to stop smoking” given away with every packet of cigarettes in every store in every town?

Since demand for cigarettes relative to price has been shown to be near-completely inelastic (they could raise it to $10 a pack and it’d make only a tiny dent in the smoking population), why don’t they at least try out some other ideas?

With respect to the tax levied on tobacco, Western governments are inseperable from drug dealers with local monopolies, but who mouth the occasional platitude for form’s sake.

4

If all the smokers in the world stopped complaining about cigarette prices, would it change the outcome of your father’s tragic illness and death?

I’m sorry, but while your story is terrible, tragic and bought a tear to my eye, I don’t see how it’s any of your business if someone else chooses to smoke, and then to complain about the price of cigarettes.

I smoked, I quit and my quitting didn’t relate to increased cigarette taxes - I quit because I wanted to. I think cigarette taxes are unfair, pointless and wrong, and that they’re hypocritical (if cigarettes are so dangerous - ban them outright, don’t just profit from them), and I don’t think they’re so much a deterrent as a drain on people who are addicted and can’t find the strength to quit.

Your father’s death taught you a valuable lesson about the dangers of smoking. Don’t take it as a personal slight that others didn’t take the same lesson from him.

5

I’m sorry too for your father’s horrible death, but he made the choice to smoke. The price of cigarettes had nothing to do with it. Taxes had nothing to do with it. Politicians don’t want people to quit smoking. The revenue is good for them, and bashing the evil tobacco companies makes them look good to their constituents. The fact is tobacco is LEGAL.

6

I agree that the taxes are not enough of a motivation for smokers to quit and that the taxes raised should be used towards ending tobacco use forever. It is my greatest wish to see tobacco made illegal and that the laws be strictly enforced. But I do get a not-so-secret sennse of smug satisfaction at the inconvenience these high taxes cause smokers. I also feel a big surprised that smokers aren’t embarrassed to complain, but my strong, strong prejudice against tobacco influences that reaction. Obviously most smokers don’t think smoking is as shameful as I do.

7

I have to agree with Iteki(actually) That is emotional blackmail.
The loss of your father is a powerful unforgettable event. I can see that you have gained insight on what smoking long term will do to a body. I am glad you, have sense to not pick up such a nasty habit.
I am saddened for your loss, we all have to go thru the loss of a parent or two in our life, if we are lucky.
I imagine that I understand what you are trying to say in your OP. Unfortunately, Preaching is not the best way to induce a change in a smoker. In fact, preaching from the mount, most often will make you an object of resentment to many smokers.
We smokers get tired of well meaning nonsmokers “witnessing” to us all the time. Lets face it, every smoker out there now knows that tobacco is most likely going to do some very nasty things to there body in the long run.
Lets face it, people like to bitch, smoking prices effect smokers, So is a topic smokers have available to bitch about. The fact of the matter is that while a nasty smelly habit, highly regulated and frowned upon by many it is LEGAL. The increase in costs are viewed by many as a discriminatory tax tacked on by politicians, taking advantage of public opinion to get a little more scratch for their level of government. Such is life in America, The majority rules and the minority pays.
If you believe those taxes are there as a deterrent, you have not been reading the many solid links from various posters here on the smoking issue found in many threads here on the SDMB, or you have you head up your ass.
Spider Robinson once wrote “People are basically a wish generator with no off switch” This is basically true. People, in general, are bitch machines with no off switch. We bitch about things in our lives we do not like or agree with. The price of smokes, the cost of popcorn at the movies, the cost of movies, the amount of cash a pro athlete gets paid, we bitch about other people bitching and we bitch about people who would rather “shut up and buy” instead of raising their voices and bitch about a perceived wrong.

Maybe a thread titled “why won’t you all quit your bitching!” would have been better received and would have covered the root of the problem. People like to bitch, people NEED to bitch.

To raise your voice and shout “YOUR FUCKING MORONS THIS IS NOT RIGHT OR FAIR!.” It is not a privilege, it is a right!

I say Bitch about everything and anything you want!, Preach from the soapbox until your blue in the face! Denounce all that you perceive is evil and wrong with the world! Thinks will not change if you are not heard BITCH BITCH BITCH!

You know you want to bitch, your letting it build up inside. Go ahead, we will not bitch to much about your verbal tirade, much less than when you finally explode, grab a rifle and find the nearest bell tower. Let it out. Bitch until your hoarse.

Just do not expect us to listen or care about your problems, unless they are a problem we share, we do not care, we have our own things to bitch about.

8

Venus, I understand your pain and anger at what a lifetime of smoking did to your father. After 35 years of smoking and a family history of heart disease, my dad finally landed in the ER with a massive heart attack. The surgeon who was going to do his bypass told us that Dad had been having “mini-heart attacks” for a long time, and there was a really huge area of dead tissue. He actually told my mother “when I pick up your husband’s heart to cut, it may crumble in my hand like cottage cheese.” So trust me, I know where you’re coming from.

But I think you’re misplacing your anger over your father. It wasn’t the cigarettes that killed him. It was HIS DECISION TO SMOKE THEM that killed him, just like my father’s decision to smoke damn near killed him. The general public has known for nearly 50 years that smoking is potentially fatal, and every schoolchild in America for the last 40 years has had that fact drilled into him in health class from the 1st grade on up. However, people still choose to smoke, and the government can’t make them stop.

The government can, however, make a few bucks off their decision and is pragmatic enough to do so. Yeah, it does seem pretty silly to me that tobacco is taxed so much more than other vices. It would be a lot more fair to spread things around more evenly, but as people tended to tell me when I was a kid, life isn’t fair.

9

Ok upon relflection the final bit of my post
“Just do not expect us to listen or care about your problems, unless they are a problem we share, we do not care, we have our own things to bitch about.”

I think my hung over thought process died on me.

I retract that statement. It was ill thought out and poorly expressed. Otherwise my post stands.

10

Venus, I’m sorry to hear about your dad.

I think smokers have a valid reason to rant about how much prices have gone up. I may be wrong, but I don’t know of any other (?bad?) product that has had such huge price increases.

I’m glad you get an LOL over the idea of the price going up so much that smokers lose their homes and cars.

(of course, if they lost their cars I would never again have to hear about people ranting about how much gas prices are. My own personal pet peeve)

I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but it seems like smokers (I’m not one anymore…btw) are fair game for nasty comments, but other people with habits that are just as damaging are off limits.

my two cents

11

Cigarettes will never be outlawed because of the amount of revenue they bring in due to the taxes. What would replace that money? Don’t think for a moment that the government wants that source to go away. If everyone quit tomorrow, there would be some serious funding issues.

By the way, I am sorry for your loss.

12

Want to know my main gripe about cigarette prices??? I live in Wisconsin, we received 800 million in a tobacco settlement, supposedly to be used towards anti-smoking and smoking cessation campaigns……So six months ago my glorious state finds out that…ooops, we have a billion dollar budget deficit. Where do you suppose they turned to get the cash to cover their asses? Yup, every last fucking penny of that blood and cancer money is being used to support the government agencies of my state, not to support the people and victims it was intended for. !!! Fucking nauseating, no???

13

Welcome to the boards ehco! Yes! My first virgin-welcome, I’m so excited. :stuck_out_tongue:

As to your post—that doesn’t surprise me in the very least. :mad: I’ve actually heard about a similar type of account in Kentucky (maybe) being used to actually build and support the tobacco farms. Seems a bit like a self-defeating cycle, if you ask me. I’ll try to find a link.

bella

14

They have every right but it’s damned vapid. “Oh dear, the price of my nasty, addictive, health-destroying, pollution-causing, completely irresponsible habit has gone up again. Woe is me!”

The only people who have any sympathy for that utter bullshit are other smokers who are singing the same tired, meaningless tune.

With the recent price hikes, a box of Nicorette gum or Nicoderm patches costs less than a carton of cigarettes. If you’re up in arms about the tax hikes, why not buy something to help break the cycle?

15

With all due respect to the non-smokers and those who have been tragically affected by the consequences of it, to sit there on a high horse and preach your self-righteous babble to us vile creatures (the smokers) in your snotty ass tones is generally going to fall on deaf ears. Oh yeah, I can see the sincerity in your cause…… :rolleyes: Just say it outright and wish us dead ok? At least that would be sincere.
I hate that I smoke, OK. I work on quitting constantly. It’s an addiction, like a ton of others. I don’t collect disability like some alcoholics and drug users (reformed, of course) My money for cigarettes goes to fund my states schools, libraries, police force etc…… I will not being seeing much assistance for my illnesses to come, should I continue to smoke. My state takes that blood money to fund the crap that they already overtax the public for, all because they didn’t understand basic accounting concepts. Tell me the price hike will be for funding treatment for us smokers as we get ill. BULLSHIT !!!
Truly, I too have been affected by smoking related deaths.
But to act like you have no vice whatsoever, is BS……do you drink, do you perhaps eat too much, not exercise enough, forget to wear your seatbelt, drive a giant SUV that POLLUTES everybody’s environment…… We all pay for eachother, we ALL affect eachother.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

16

And we all pay for it, too. You guys just whine about it a lot more.

17

Here in Ohio, we have a 33 cent hike on Satan’s Penises to try and reverse our deficit. Yes, instead of cutting back on spending, our fair state has instituted a sin tax to cover their asses. Why not tax beer? Because it would cause public outcry! No, we must demonize smoking even more.

From a non-smoker, who is comfortable with people just not smoking around him.

18

Let me get this straight: people who don’t smoke never die? Wow… alert the media!