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Should this bill pass, offenders would face maximum punishments of one year in prison, a $6,250 fine or both. According to the CDC, there are around 476,000 smokers in Oregon who would become criminals under this law if they continued to smoke. As a person who is addicted to nicotine, I can tell you that I would most likely violate this law due to my addiction. Heroin is arguably less addictive than nicotine. It is an incredibly difficult habit to break, and as such, the use of violence to stop addictive behavior will not work.
A ban on cigarettes would also cost the state some tax revenue. Presently the state of Oregon has a cigarette tax of $1.18 per pack, 2009 data says that 47.9 packs per citizen were sold, which works out to roughly $214,783,600 in tax revenue for the state for that year (assuming the tax rate didn’t change). Now an argument could be made that the state will save more in terms of health care costs than it would lose in the treatment of tobacco-related diseases, but that’s only if you fail to include the cost of enforcing this law and assume everyone would stop smoking. As every other drug that has been banned shows us, people will not stop smoking, and the criminal activity involving cigarettes would be enormous. Locking up a single person for a year costs the state between $40,000 to $50,000.
Location: In a Galaxy far, far away called Germany
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I don't think this bill has much of a shot. The trend is going in the other direction (legalization of Marijuana). Prohibition of such things don't work. Some just don't learn.
The article was a bit over the top, and something like this won't pass in Oregon, but I do hope they make it easier for people to get treatment for cigarette addiction and I would support an increase in cigarette tax to pay for it. The less people smoking tobacco the better it is for everyone.
The article was a bit over the top, and something like this won't pass in Oregon, but I do hope they make it easier for people to get treatment for cigarette addiction and I would support an increase in cigarette tax to pay for it. The less people smoking tobacco the better it is for everyone.
So I as a citizen who smokes should have to pay an extra tax so that people who don't want to smoke can get treatment for it?
You know what? I support healthy eating habits along with a multi-fiber supplement everyday that helps to clean and regulate a persons bowels, something like metamucil works wonders as a daily addage.
I don't think you should be required to do any of this, but I would support a tax on all the extra toilet paper you'll use to wipe your ....... and get it clean
Speaking of stupid laws in Oregon, I didn't know it was illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon. LOL! I wonder if they still push their own shopping carts?
And this is "liberalism"? Sounds like liberals exercising some staunch "conservatism". Hence, more evidence to point toward us silly Americans just like our labels, regardless of our understanding of them.
Once again, there's a large difference between Oregon proposing to ban cigarettes--and one man in Oregon proposing to ban cigarettes. People like to complain about the weak level of reporting in the mainstream media, but unfortunately the level of journalism in the non-mainstream media and blogosphere is just as bad.
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