Higher cigarette taxes make smokers happier Essay

Higher cigarette taxes make smokers happier - Essay Example Each year in the United States, more than 400,000 smokers die of smoking-related illnesses. Smoking kills more people than AIDS, car accidents, alcohol, homicides, illegal drugs, suicides, and fires combined! Diseases associated with smoking include heart disease, lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Smokeless tobacco is linked to oral cancers and can cause tooth abrasion, gum recession, and leukoplakia.Yet, despite these frightening and startling revelations, people still persists and the few that quit are replaced in many folds by new entrants. This inevitably leads to the question of what could be done to control cigarette consumption by Government in view of the challenges it poses to public health and the Nation manpower development. Government all over the world has toiled with the idea of levying high tax on tobacco products like cigarette in a bid to discourage its consumption.However, whether this has been achieved or not is evidenced in the increase turnover of Tobacco companies. Consider the scenarios below which tend to provide more insight into the effect of higher taxes on the average smoker. Adeolu is 47 years old. He has been smoking cigarette for the past 30 years.