Everything seems to cost more as each year passes. Groceries, gas, rent, utilities, cigarettes, and liquor. None of them are getting any cheaper, and the taxes on them aren?t going down, either.
Considering a large portion of the population in Lethbridge is students, for those who smoke, raised taxes are yet another hand in their wallets.
In 2002, Alberta raised the taxes on cigarettes to discourage tobacco use, bringing the cost from of a carton from $14 to the current amount of $37, but we certainly haven?t seen a drop in customers buying tobacco when we?re in the line at our local corner store. Meanwhile, the government is raking in millions.
Higher taxes don?t discourage the purchase of a product, but it does seem to affect how much is purchased. If the government really wants to wean the public off smoking, or even drinking, banning it is a step in the right direction, but they won?t ban it completely, since it?s a huge cash cow.
Let?s make one thing perfectly clear, people have to decide for themselves that they want to stop doing something. Putting pressure on them with bans and taxes only goes so far, and using the hand of the law only goes so far.
In 2008, Alberta lawmakers made it illegal to smoke inside a public building or within five metres of one. This includes colleges and universities. The trouble with that law, or any other, is that it doesn?t do any good unless it?s enforced.
It has been proven in Alaska and Finland that raised taxes on alcohol does decrease the number of drunk drivers on the road. One study found 23 fewer deaths per year after a 1983 tax hike and 21 fewer deaths per year after a 2002 tax increase. One has to wonder if the taxes are simply for government coffers or to encourage personal responsibility.
Case in point: When Finland lowered the taxes on booze in 2004 to help encourage local sales after officials warned that patrons would simply go to neighbouring nations for cheaper liquor, consumption went up nearly 50 per cent. People obviously hadn?t learned personal responsibility from the higher taxes.
On July 1st, Alberta banned the retail displays of cigarettes, which includes the colourful posters and behind-the-counter displays. The next stage comes into effect on January 1st of 2009, at which time, the sale of tobacco in health facilities, college and university campuses, and pharmacies will be banned.
Banning the posters and counter displays only makes shake our heads in disbelief, though restricting sales in certain places may be enough of an inconvenience to get some people to quit, it won?t stop people from satisfying their habit elsewhere if they choose to.
To reiterate, people have to want to quit or decrease how much they smoke or drink, and though these laws put pressure on them to do so, it really comes down to personal choice, just as it always has.
