plain pack smokers

Along with an immediately effective massive 25% increase in tobacco tax the Australian labor government made a world first last Thursday by announcing that by July 2012 all tobacco products were to be sold in plain packs (no brand images or colors) causing Marrielle to wonder whether it will soon become mandatory for smokers to become brown paper bag-heads, too.

“As a smoker, I am already abused by having to put up with disgusting health warning graphics on my cigarette pack, and being sold a legal product that is unable to be displayed and comes from ‘under the counter’ like hard-porn,” says Marrielle, “so I really don’t care about the plain pack proposal as long as it doesn’t present a huge problem for shopkeepers – but I do care about the 25% increase in tobacco tax because I’m a backpacker and don’t have much money and having this sprung on me without any warning to adjust my life and finances accordingly is really bad form.”

“True to form,” sniffs Marrielle, “the tobacco companies kept mum on the massive 25% tax increase but jumped up and down on the proposed plain packaging law because it would encourage counterfeiting, lower its profits, harm branding and infringe intellectual property rights.”

“The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd insisted that his government will not be intimidated by Big Tobacco – and quite rightly so,” says Marrielle, “but along with his other disastrous forays into social engineering and money grabbing he may change his tune down the line if Big Tobacco mounts a legal battle and wins compensation from the Australian government, or the whole industry is wiped out by his draconian measures – putting thousands out of work and a huge hole in his budget.”

“The 25% tax increase will increase the cost of a packet of 30 cigarettes to around $16.70 Australian dollars – which means one cigarette costs slightly more than the 55c it costs for a local postage stamp – and will reap the government an estimated $5 billion Australian dollars over four years,” says Marrielle. “This estimate takes into consideration that about 6% of the current estimated 16.6% smokers over 14 years of age will quit.”

“For a pack a day person on basic wages or benefits the cost of cigarettes has now become prohibitive and a lot more than 6% of smokers may be forced to quit – and a greater percentage of smokers may resort to the black market, or buy cheap and nasty imported Chinese cigarettes – meaning that Mr. Rudd may not get the $5 billion he expects to gouge out of smokers.”

“If the $5 billion is being relied upon to invest in the nation’s health system, then a lot of people are going to miss out on their hip replacements and lap banding surgeries – and I mean that literally because obesity related illnesses now outstrip smoking related illnesses in Australia and most western countries and I don’t see fatties and the junk food they crave being abnormalised in the way smokers and tobacco are.”

“Imagine the outcry if all of our pleasures had to be purchased under the counter packed in brown paper bags?” asks Marrielle. “These measures are not just abnormalizing smoking but pornographizing it!”

“Actually, the announcement came out of the blue – Australia already has an automatic bi-annual increase in tobacco tax – and as it was made at the same time as Mr. Rudd ditched his climate change plans until 2013 one wonders whether the 25% tax increase on tobacco was a quick fix intended to fill the coffers that the carbon emissions tax was supposed to fill.”

“Before the Copenhagen Conference Mr. Rudd was blathering on about climate change as being the ‘great moral challenge of our generation’ and if he can do a double-take on his carbon emissions tax then nobody in their right mind can believe that this new 25% tax increase on tobacco has anything to do with health.”

“If the government really cared about the health of smokers then it would be offering nicotine replacement therapies cheaply or for free,” says Marrielle. “So, the heavily addicted who can’t quit and can’t afford the extra tax will be forced by the Australian government to smoke cheap cigarettes that are more likely to cause health problems than regular cigarettes.”

“It’s just a tax grab on the most vulnerable of citizens – including the Aboriginal population – and it’s also an unscrupulous distraction from the fact that Rudd has reneged on the ETS and desperately needs a whole lot of money to repay his Chinese debts,” says Marrielle. “Which makes me wonder whether this is part of a deal he has made with China to flood the market with cheap Chinese tobacco products?”

“Also, plain pack cigarettes are really not going to bother existing smokers and I cannot see how they are going to influence young people not to take up smoking either,” says Marrielle. “Tobacco advertising was banned decades ago and to suggest that a stupid brand logo makes a young person want to buy cigarettes to make them look ‘cool’ is ridiculous, especially when all cigarette packs are plastered with horrific images of smoking related illnesses on them – what’s cool about that?”

“The plain pack proposal was merely added to the 25% tax increase on tobacco in order to give the impression that it’s all being done in the interests of better health, not to raise money,” sighs Marrielle, “and that the tax increase applies immediately, but the plain packaging doesn’t take effect until July 2012 – by which time Mr. Rudd and his labor government may be out of office – shows that it is all a big bluff and may never see the light of day.”

“Now that winter is coming on in Australia a lot of backpackers will be heading home for the northern summer and with the prohibitive new cost of cigarettes I will be one of them,” laughs Marrielle. “Australia is no place for smokers – especially poor smokers like me!”

recession smokers

Nessie works near the financial hub of the city and she's noticed a lot more smokers huddled outside buildings, puffing madly, since the recession started to bite.

"I've also noticed a lot less discrimination against me from passers-by when I dash down to have a quick smoke," says Nessie, "so I guess the recession is good, in a way, for smokers and other victims of government health fads because it distracts the bullies, giving them something more important to do with their time than interfering in other people's enjoyment of life."

"I'm not a vindictive person, but if this recession is going to cause the government to offload all of the health fad parasites in its various departments in order to save the nation from bankruptcy, then it's three cheers from me," laughs Nessie. "Let them find a real job in the real world rather than swanning around their smoke-free offices finding more and more ways to victimize smokers while living a fat-cat life on our tobacco tax money."

"Let them find out what it's like to be removed from their comfort zone and their addiction to living like parasites on our tobacco tax."

"In fact, let them apply their own sanctimonious advice to themselves when they find themselves reaching for their tobacco tax-funded pay packets and find them empty," laughs Nessie. "Let's see how easy it is for them to give up their addictive comfort zone -- patch that if you can!"

"It would be poetic justice, indeed, if some of them -- stressed out with it all -- took solace in a cigarette," says Nessie. “Very few people are able to quit one addiction without taking up another one.”

"I do, however, feel sorry for all the ex-smokers who've lapsed with the stresses of the recession," sighs Nessie. "It must be terrible for people who've lost money or fear the loss of their jobs to cope with it all -- and who can blame ex-smokers in this situation who say 'to hell with it, I need a smoke’!"

"If they had quit smoking in the first place because of exorbitant tobacco taxes, then they are going to be in a far worse financial situation taking the habit up again," says Nessie. "It's always bothered me why governments would tax so heavily a product that calms people down and makes them feel good – without any nasty repercussions, such as violence or risky behavior -- but I suppose in good times governments can do what the hell they like."

"I imagine that recession worries are causing a whole lot of other 'reformed' people to lapse, too," adds Nessie. "When times are bad, people naturally turn to comforting substances like sweet and fatty foods, alcohol and drugs to make them feel better, so watch out for a lot more drunks and druggies on the streets!"

"Now that the times are bad," suggests Nessie, "I think the government should reduce tax on tobacco -- even hand out packets for free!"

"I don't know about you, but I'd prefer a mass of recession smokers on the streets than a mass of recession drunks and druggies."

cigarette muggers

Zaina and her partner were recently mugged for their cigarettes and she points out that this is what happens when governments regularly increase tax on a legal product that is addictive -- like cigarettes -- in order to fund schools and hospitals. The time has now arrived when cigarettes have become too expensive to buy for many smokers and some will necessarily resort to crime in order to get what they want. Is this how we want our schools and hospitals funded?

"I was standing outside a restaurant with my partner having a smoke when we were mugged by a gang of youths," says Zaina. "Okay, they didn't actually bash us up -- they pushed my partner and stole his packet of cigarettes -- but the effect was the same as a mugging."

"We felt violated and wounded by this experience," explains Zaina, "and more so because we had no redress -- we could hardly call the police and complain about being pushed around and having cigarettes stolen, could we?"

"This sort of thing never happened when restaurants allowed people to smoke inside," says Zaina, "and, as the tax on cigarettes goes up even more, I expect these muggings to increase and become even more violent. Is this really how we want our schools and hospitals funded?"

"By forcing us outside to smoke the restaurant owners are exposing us to muggers," says Zaina, "but I don't blame the restaurant owners because they are merely complying with the new rules. It's the fault of the mugging government in every respect!"

"The government enforced the no-smoking rules on public establishments and imposed draconian taxes on cigarettes and it might find the whole exercise backfires when someone gets badly hurt and takes legal action -- reversing the whole legal process that started the non-smoking campaign in the first place."

"Already we've read about lots of smoking-related violence -- smokers reacting violently against people trying to stop them lighting up in non-smoking areas, and anti-smokers behaving violently towards smokers smoking in smoking areas," says Zaina. "I don't know how many smokers have been mugged for their cigarettes like we have -- it's not the sort of thing that makes front page news, is it? -- but I predict an increase in this sort of crime when the taxes increase so much that poor people can no longer afford to buy their cigarettes."

"A huge increase in cigarette smuggling to avoid tax is also going on," sighs Zaina. "It's really upsetting to see a pleasurable thing like smoking attracting criminal elements."

"The government is crazy if it thinks that people will just cut down or stop smoking when it becomes too expensive for them to buy cigarettes," sighs Zaina. "We're talking about an addiction here, not a preference for one thing over another like buying a cheap bottle of wine when you can no longer afford French champagne, or a bottle of methylated spirits when you can no longer afford a cheap bottle of wine."

"Most smokers have already been forced by exorbitant taxes to buy cheaper brands of cigarettes, and when the cheapest brand become too expensive to buy the ugly consequences of the anti-smoking campaign are really going to manifest themselves big time."

"The government knows that cigarette smoking is most prevalent among low socio-economic groups," says Zaina. "What plans does it have to prevent theft, violence and slaughter when it raises the taxes on tobacco products to the tipping point?"

"I believe most smokers are honest law-abiding people -- we have accepted the new smoking rules and accommodated to them without stirring up a revolution," says Zaina, "but I do not know whether my partner and I will be able to sit by silently while not only the government bullies us but the poorer smokers, too."

"After our mugging experience we have decided to stay home from now on -- or to restrict our dining out experiences to places where there is a private smoking area," says Zaina. "But now we worry about being mugged at the point of sale -- places where we buy our cigarettes."

"When people get desperate they do desperate things -- and even if tobacco outlets are set up as fortresses the purchasers are exposed to muggers when they leave such establishments."

"Imagine having to look around and see who's watching you every time you buy a pack of cigarettes," sighs Zaina. "It's not a nice way to live and I am angry that the government is creating a criminal environment around the sale and use of a legal product."

"It is almost as if the government is deliberately creating a crime situation by raising taxes so much that poor people have to resort to crime to get their cigarettes (and then it can take the ultimate step to ban smoking altogether)," muses Zaina. "but since it makes such a big deal about tobacco tax being used to fund our schools and hospitals I can't see any logic in that argument."

"If our schools and hospitals are funded by tobacco tax, and everyone who smokes suddenly quits, buys their cigarettes tax-free off smugglers or mugs for them, then what? Where is the money for the schools and hospitals going to come from?"

"No, I don't think the government's ulterior motive in increasing tax on cigarettes is to create such a bad crime situation that it has a good reason to ban smoking -- that would be like cutting off its nose to spite its face," says Zaina. "So, that leaves me with the horrifying realization that the government hasn't a clue."

"It had no idea what Pandora's box it opened when it targeted smokers and put the tax screws on them, but it's going to find out pretty soon," sighs Zaina. "Reminds you of the invasion of Iraq, doesn't it?"

"In the meantime, I can't understand why schools and hospitals can't be funded by regular taxes," sighs Zaina. "If tobacco is so bad, then it's mind-boggling that the government would depend upon it in this way."

"And, if it's not so bad, then it's mind-boggling that the government would tax it to the point where consumers can no longer afford it and have to resort to crime."

tobacco tax funding ASH ads?

When the government raises tobacco tax -- saying it's to pay for the health costs of smoking -- Pilar begrudgingly pays more for her cigarettes, but when she sees government funded anti-smoking advertisements similar to those used by ASH on television, radio and in print she quite rightly fumes!

"Who is running the government, ASH or our elected representatives?" asks Pilar. "And how dare they spend revenue raised from smokers to fund disgusting advertisements designed to beat us up."

"You would think that the ASH activists would have better things to pour their energies into, wouldn't you," sighs Pilar. "They are 100% dedicated to stamping out smokers and it wouldn't matter if a terrorist bomb dropped near them -- they'd still focus their attentions on smokers because it appears that we, not the terrorists, are always going to be the main enemy, the main scourge of the Earth."

"Damn it, even drug addicts shooting up heroin are better treated than smokers are," says Pilar, "and all of this vilification appears to be due entirely to the propaganda against smoking put out by ASH. Starting out with little lies and repeating them endlessly, they eventually become irrefutable truths. It's brainwashing at its worst."

"I watch television, read papers and listen to the radio purely for entertainment and news," says Pilar. "I don't expect to be confronted with bullying, vile and untruthful advertisements against smoking -- and especially when they are put out by the government and paid for by my smoking tax dollars."

"Where are these billions of tobacco sin-tax dollars going?" asks Pilar. "Straight into the pockets of the anti-smoking lobby, that's where -- or straight into the pockets of pharmaceutical companies designing more and more dodgy products which are supposed to help people stop smoking."

"Well, hello? Tobacco is my drug of choice, smoking is my only vice, I have no intention of quitting and I demand that these moral crusaders get off my back!"



Read more by Pilar on this issue:

taxes diverted to the rich

ASH goes MADD

Crazy government priorities