Observing the dementia of governments and bureaucrats in service to antismoking trash such as ASH, one may have hard time to fathom the fact that they are that stupid, and look for alternative explanations.
As we are hardcore realists, we at FORCES believe that such a level of idiocy is real, witness how the “dangers” of passive smoking and the antismoking witch hunt have succeeded despite such an ephemeral basis in reality. The era of progress and intelligence is over.
It’s budget time in Ireland and it is promised to be the toughest budget fight yet with all the usual suspects rearing their ugly heads. The article we are linked to is a press releases from anti-tobacco to the national papers a few days ago. Faced with devastating economic times everywhere in the world – times that the “health & safety” idiots have largely brought upon themselves with expensive and paralyzing regulations, “tough” is the buzz word to fix their own disasters. “Tough” laws. “Tough” economics. “Tough” enforcement.
A proposed price increase on cigarettes by "at least" one Euro is, of course, part of the “tough” measures. Equally of course, the intention is not to rob Irish smokers by a few millions a day to finance non smoking parasites – not at all! It is for “public health”!… For the antismoking idiots, the fact that the number of smokers has increased since the “tough” antismoking measures only means that the measures were not “tough” enough, and that “tougher” ways must therefore be undertaken. Further, the fact that smuggling is a plague in the country must be completely swept under the carpet, as it is too real to handle: out of sight, out of mind.
Here is a speculation: is it possible that the smugglers have planted some operatives in the governments, or even amongst antitobacco operatives?…
Really, think about it: a one Euro price increase would constitute a thick percentage of the price of cigarettes, thus it would increase the black market accordingly. Those who smoke “in the black” no longer buy legal smokes, thus the official statistics on cigarette consumption would go down; the antismoking cons would then be able to claim that the price increase "works". Further, Big Pharma would gain some market by the proposed removal of taxation of smoking cessation trash and pay off antismoking operatives more. All is well with the world.
Summation: the increased price would not increase long-term revenue for the government as more smokers would go to contraband. In fact each smoker who switches to the honest market (that is, the black market) means a loss of several Euros a day that the government can no longer steal; that offsets the perceived increased revenue from the over-taxation several times over. At the same time, the removal of VAT from the pharmaceutical trash means a further loss of state income. Finally, the greater availability of cheap cigarettes from the “honest resellers” increases the number of smokers.
Everybody wins except the antismoking state that manages, once again, to screw itself thanks to “public health” stupidity. Why is evil self-defeating? Mainly because it is the ultimate stupidity. Confirmation? Just read the closing point of the piece – a point that can never be missing: “It is estimated that in excess of 95% of smokers who quit before the age of 30 years will avoid a tobacco-related death.”
The work of ideological self-delusion continues: not even one death ever has been scientifically demonstrated to be caused by smoking. Need we say more?….
Below is a letter to the Irish Examiner sent by Mr. John Mallon, that further highlights the morbid agenda of the Tobacco Control idiots.
Sir/Madam,
As budget time rolls around again, the usual phobic anti-smokers are calling for an increase in the price of cigarettes. Due to pressures from these groups in the past, we now have the most expensive cigarettes in Europe, and I suggest that because of this, we also have the biggest black market also. The likes of ASH and the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) are, in fact, driving this criminality.
Their propaganda becomes ever more shrill and unbelievable also. The OTC states that "a survey also found 59% of people supported doubling the price of cigarettes, including four out of 10 smokers." I could add that four out of ten shoppers are demanding higher prices for their purchases or that two in five Irish people favour a sharp increase in their cost of living, but I won’t, because like the OTC press release, it is nonsense.
But perhaps their real strategy is becoming clearer. Chief executive of the OTC, Eamonn Rossi, said that “some of the extra revenue generated by a €1 increase in tobacco excise duty, up to the value of €5 million, should be earmarked for investment in health promotion.” Put into English, this is the top man in a totally unnecessary organisation demanding several millions of taxpayers money to cushion his job and his argument to the Government is that it won’t cost them a penny. The OTC identifies smokers as coming from the lower social orders, those with little money, and he is suggesting that these people now be penalised yet again on the way into a recession to fund his activities.
Never missing an opportunity to ingratiate himself with his friends in the big Pharmaceuticals, Mr Rossi goes on to suggest that he "wants the VAT rate on replacement products to be reduced from 21% to 0% to encourage anyone who is considering quitting to use patches or other similar treatments". To sum up, the OTC with their small office and staff want several millions for themselves, they want to raise this by penalising the poor and they want some of that money to go to the richest corporates in the world. Perhaps Brian Cowen might look again at the law of diminishing returns and instead of putting up the price of cigarettes, he could save a fortune by winding up the OTC and rescind their charitable status. It would raise a lot of much needed money and "it wouldn’t cost the Government a penny".
— John Mallon
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