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-- Students smoking smuggled smokes: Study

Students smoking smuggled smokes: Study

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/272684

quote:

Nov 01, 2007 12:52 PM THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA � Researchers who collected discarded cigarette butts from around Quebec and Ontario high schools say an "alarming" number of teenagers are smoking contraband tobacco. The researchers, hired by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association, analyzed more than 11,000 cigarette butts taken from public grounds around 55 high schools in Ontario and 50 in Quebec. They determined that in Ontario, 24 per cent of high-schoolers' cigarette butts were contraband, while in Quebec contraband made up 35 per cent of schoolyard butts. "The rampant use of these contraband cigarettes is a growing problem across Canada," association president Dave Bryans said in a statement today. "We were absolutely shocked by the extent to which it is actually happening. "There are clearly some very serious implications as a result of these findings." The organization said illegal cigarettes are being imported and sold throughout Canada inexpensively and with no government oversight. Although youth smoking rates are at an all-time low, the study said use of "cheap, easily accessible, unregulated and untaxed" contraband tobacco cigarettes is widespread among youth. "Not only are these illegal cigarettes robbing the government of billions in tax revenue each year, but even more disconcerting is that no one knows what's really in these contraband cigarettes," said Bryans. "They're often made in illegal, unregulated factories and sold to kids out of the trunks of cars. "This should be a serious wake-up call to youth smokers, their parents, police agencies and government officials alike." The storeowners group said contraband cigarettes are being smuggled from as far away as China and tens of thousands of cartons are illegally sold in Canada each day. And they come cheap, with a pack of 20 cigarettes often going for as little as $1, compared with $8 for government-taxed cigarettes. "This all happens with absolutely no government inspection, testing, or review," said a statement from the storeowners. Some other facts from the study by the independent research company, Arcus Group: � 11,267 cigarette butts from around schools were collected, 5,457 in Ontario and 5,810 in Quebec. � In Ontario, the highest incidences of contraband were in Newmarket and Aurora, at 50 and 47 per cent respectively, while Burlington and Oakville had the lowest, at nine and eight per cent. � In Quebec, the highest incidences of contraband were in Anjou and Cote-des-Neiges at 74 and 60 per cent respectively, while St-Michel and Greenfield Park had the lowest at 12 and 18 per cent. � Half the municipalities or regions surveyed � 22 of 44 � exceeded a 30 per cent share of illegal cigarette butts, while 11 municipalities had over 40 per cent illegal cigarette butts.

anyone else amused at the hypocrisy of calling out the "safety" of unregulated cigarettes by the head of a store association whose members' businesses live and die by cigarette sales?

I also suppose that smokers actually know what's in store-bought, gov't-regulated cigarettes? and store bought ones are necessarily more "safe"? safe is pretty fucking relative when you're talking about known carcinogenic items, lol.

fucking tools. Just come out and say that you're upset at all the lost revenue your store owners are realizing from the black market and then STFU. pretending to give one fuck about people's health (or gov't revenue) is just pathetic.

x 100

"Robbing the government". Rewfles.

dont really see it as anything that can be stopped. i hear that marijuana isn't lagalized yet because law enforcement cant regulate use. once the police have a solid method of knowing whether your high or not then it will be legalized... anyone heard this as well or is it just me?

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut "Robbing the government". Rewfles.

Oh noes! What ever will they do?!

the contraband smokes are probably better for you. in relative terms of course lol

Re: Students smoking smuggled smokes: Study

I don't smoke anymore but for a buck a pack I kinda wanna start again.

it's only a matter of time (months if not year) before smoke prices decrease again. There are so many laws againsts it. Next year gas stations/convenient stores won't be able to display that they even sell cigarettes (the packs behind the counter will have to be behind a curtain) because by law displaying the packs is considered a form of advertising or some junk like that.

Demand WILL decrease with time, hence the price will decrease in an attempt to stimulate the market.

Re: Students smoking smuggled smokes: Study

quote:

Originally posted by MarkT http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/272684 anyone else amused at the hypocrisy of calling out the "safety" of unregulated cigarettes by the head of a store association whose members' businesses live and die by cigarette sales? I also suppose that smokers actually know what's in store-bought, gov't-regulated cigarettes? and store bought ones are necessarily more "safe"? safe is pretty fucking relative when you're talking about known carcinogenic items, lol. fucking tools. Just come out and say that you're upset at all the lost revenue your store owners are realizing from the black market and then STFU. pretending to give one fuck about people's health (or gov't revenue) is just pathetic. x 100

+ 1237029834792475092387429387459283

what exactly are contraband cigs? if I buy 2 blocks of 10 packs in duty free, and sell 5 of them, does it mean I'm selling contraband goods?

whats even funnier is that they collected butts from highschools....where the majority of people are not even old enough to buy cigarettes

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut "Robbing the government". Rewfles.

Cheating the cheaters...I likes.

quote:

Originally posted by Zentac_75 it's only a matter of time (months if not year) before smoke prices decrease again. There are so many laws againsts it. Next year gas stations/convenient stores won't be able to display that they even sell cigarettes (the packs behind the counter will have to be behind a curtain) because by law displaying the packs is considered a form of advertising or some junk like that. Demand WILL decrease with time, hence the price will decrease in an attempt to stimulate the market.

Umm, not really. If anything, the prices will increase due to something we call "taxes".

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Originally posted by The Highroller Umm, not really. If anything, the prices will increase due to something we call "taxes".

Yea, cigarette prices are definately not going down. I just had to write a paper for one of my econ classes on this subject.

To sum it up in a nutshell.....if taxes aren't raised cigarette manufactures will take advantage of the pricing room and increase prices themselves. Even with the steady increase in taxes cigarette manufactures have continued to post record profits. Our government however is inclined to raise taxes as it significantly raises tax revenues as well as lowers long term healthcare costs. Raising the price by 10% will result in a 4% decrease in consumption which in the long run would save the government ~$400 million in healtcare costs. Not to mention a decrease in the productivity loses due to smoking as well as a decrease in the required amount of hospital beds devoted to tobacco related diseases.

If the NDP were to have been elected, taxes would have increased by 17%. To throw some other statistics out there....2 out of 3 Ontarians support an increase in tobacco taxes so raising the tax wouldn't exactly hurt the political standing of any party which chooses to do it.

quote:

Originally posted by slingshot Yea, cigarette prices are definately not going down. I just had to write a paper for one of my econ classes on this subject. To sum it up in a nutshell.....if taxes aren't raised cigarette manufactures will take advantage of the pricing room and increase prices themselves. Even with the steady increase in taxes cigarette manufactures have continued to post record profits. Our government however is inclined to raise taxes as it significantly raises tax revenues as well as lowers long term healthcare costs. Raising the price by 10% will result in a 4% decrease in consumption which in the long run would save the government ~$400 million in healtcare costs. Not to mention a decrease in the productivity loses due to smoking as well as a decrease in the required amount of hospital beds devoted to tobacco related diseases. If the NDP were to have been elected, taxes would have increased by 17%. To throw some other statistics out there....2 out of 3 Ontarians support an increase in tobacco taxes so raising the tax wouldn't exactly hurt the political standing of any party which chooses to do it.

I haven't bought a pack a cigarettes from a store in ages.....$10 a carton is all I pay. The cost of cigarettes go up and down all the time. When I started univeristy in 1993 the cost of a pack was almost $10.00 and by the time I finished university the price was $4.00. Eventually the government will lower the taxes on cigarettes because of the amount of money they loose out on from stolen and "black market" cigarettes.

.

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced I haven't bought a pack a cigarettes from a store in ages.....$10 a carton is all I pay. The cost of cigarettes go up and down all the time. When I started univeristy in 1993 the cost of a pack was almost $10.00 and by the time I finished university the price was $4.00. Eventually the government will lower the taxes on cigarettes because of the amount of money they loose out on from stolen and "black market" cigarettes.

Highly unlikely. The reason for the reduction in price back than was due to a massive tax rollback on tobacco taxes in 1994. Cigarettes are just now reaching the prices of back than. It's very unlikely that taxes will come down again. While the government may begin to lose money on tax revenue, it will be offset in health care savings as well as a deduction in productivity loses due to tobacco related diseases in our economy. The productivity loses that result from tobacco related diseases are far greater than the actual tax revenue collected by the government. It's not like people just switch to black market cigarettes everytime the price of cigarettes increase. Increases in price cause a significant amount of people to stop smoking. You're telling me a large portion of people aren't going to use an increase in price as an incentive to quit? Read up on some studies dude.

^Your posts have made me reconsider my previous assumption.

quote:

Originally posted by slingshot Highly unlikely. The reason for the reduction in price back than was due to a massive tax rollback on tobacco taxes in 1994. Cigarettes are just now reaching the prices of back than. It's very unlikely that taxes will come down again. While the government may begin to lose money on tax revenue, it will be offset in health care savings as well as a deduction in productivity loses due to tobacco related diseases in our economy. The productivity loses that result from tobacco related diseases are far greater than the actual tax revenue collected by the government. It's not like people just switch to black market cigarettes everytime the price of cigarettes increase. Increases in price cause a significant amount of people to stop smoking. You're telling me a large portion of people aren't going to use an increase in price as an incentive to quit? Read up on some studies dude.

u so smart

quote:

Originally posted by slingshot Highly unlikely. The reason for the reduction in price back than was due to a massive tax rollback on tobacco taxes in 1994. Cigarettes are just now reaching the prices of back than. It's very unlikely that taxes will come down again. While the government may begin to lose money on tax revenue, it will be offset in health care savings as well as a deduction in productivity loses due to tobacco related diseases in our economy. The productivity loses that result from tobacco related diseases are far greater than the actual tax revenue collected by the government. It's not like people just switch to black market cigarettes everytime the price of cigarettes increase. Increases in price cause a significant amount of people to stop smoking. You're telling me a large portion of people aren't going to use an increase in price as an incentive to quit? Read up on some studies dude.

Taxes will come down again at some point....its a cycle that continues to happen. Actually, people do switch to black market cigarettes becuase of price increases......a larger portion of the smoking population are more likely to find cheaper cigarettes then actually quit smoking.....The people most likely to quit smoking because of cost are highschool kids and university kids.....the health care savings are not going to be seen for another 30-40 years.

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced Taxes will come down again at some point....its a cycle that continues to happen. Actually, people do switch to black market cigarettes becuase of price increases......a larger portion of the smoking population are more likely to find cheaper cigarettes then actually quit smoking.....The people most likely to quit smoking because of cost are highschool kids and university kids.....the health care savings are not going to be seen for another 30-40 years.

Ok, so following your logic and for the sake of this argument let's throw some numbers in here. Say for every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes, 5% of smokers will switch to black market cigarettes. So in theory, if the price of cigarettes went up by 200%, 100% of smokers would switch to black market cigarettes? While this is just a hypothetical, extreme case example....the amount of black market cigarettes that can flood the market has an upper limit. This isn't prohibition. Smoking is not going to increase as the price skyrockets. While the percentage of people who switch to black market cigarettes in response to an increase the price of cigarettes is diminishing as the price increases, it DEFINATELY has an upper limit. What i'm trying to say here from my last couple of posts is that the economic benefits that result from constant price increases far outweigh the steady decline in tax revenues.

Long term health care savings + Long term productivity increases > Long term decline in tax revenue.

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