Quote:
Originally Posted by Ledgem
What you've stated is the case with substances that are outright banned. If cigarettes are just incredibly expensive, then they're a product for the social elite. Couple it with proper education about the harmful effects of smoking, and it's a product for the idiotic social elite. I'm not saying that the scenario you mentioned couldn't happen, but it seems a bit less likely since cigarettes would not be banned outright, just very difficult to obtain and to use.
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You're right, that's what would probably happen. However, there are still the millions of poor, addicted smokers now unable to get cigs legally. Where do they turn to? The underground. As legal as cigs are, I hear the withdrawl symptoms rival that of "hard drugs" like heroin.
However, the solution that you mention are somewhat politically unfeasible in the US. Lobbyists will NEVER allow taxes on cigs to rise high than it already is, nor allow their PR to flounder further under government and private programs that encourage NOT smoking. It will also be a sad day when government trys to take the place of personal responsibility. No matter how good education is about smoking, the choice is ultimately up to the individual. IMO, knowing the dangers of addiction is a personal responsibility, but government has done a lot confirm that (at least where I went to school).