Cigarettes are probably going up in the Budget..

syklops

The campaign to introduce a 50c levy on a pack of 20 cigarettes on Budget day is gathering momentum.

The Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation are using their pre-Budget submissions to highlight that the move would generate €85m for the Exchequer.

Sixteen people die of smoking-related illnesses in Ireland every day.

Spokesperson for the Irish Cancer Society Kathleen O'Meara said increasing the cost would also discourage young people from taking up the habit.

Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/campaign-underway-for-50c-hike-in-cigarette-costs-482840.html#ixzz166FFivF7

As a recent quiiter, and as someone who recently lost not 1 but 2 relatives to smoking related illnesses,I have mixed feelings about this. I wish I had never taken them up and wish no-other person would as well.

On the one hand hey its an extra 85 Million quid. That said though we are already losing loads of revenue through cigarette smuggling, and this will only make it worse.

As well as lost revenue to the state, it is also a new revenue stream for organised crime, so cigarette smuggling is a sort of Double whammy for the state.

I know a few people who have not bought a pack of cigarettes in Ireland since the last budget. Buying instead from friends who bring them back from abroad, or going up north for them. I am sure this condition will continue, and even worsen.

The state revenue aside though. I can't help wondering about the social impact of such measures. For people on low income and those on the dole, is it actually taking nearly 4 Euro out of the weekly shopping budget? Is the direct result of this increase that some people will be a little bit more hungry this Christmas? I suspect so.

What do other people think?

Pookah

Great. More customers for the smugglers.

bonerm

Good thing I quit at birth then.

Queen-Mise

im off them 3 weeks today. Its another deterrent not to go back on them.

It will be more money for the smugglers though.

squeakyduck

Good, it will stop the amount of kids I see around the place smoking. All my siblings, (myself included) as well as my dad smoked, and we have all given up. My dad did it cold turkey as he got severe bronchitis.

Personally smoking is just a waste of money, a dirty habit. I admire people that do give up. But, I agree that raising the price of cigarettes will just increase the amount of cigarettes coming into the country whether smuggled or bought in duty free.

My ole lad gave up smoking the night the smoking ban came in, he was a 40 a day man. A few years later a partial blockage of an artery was noticed when he had an angiogram, stent installed and happy out. The doctor reckoned that if he hadn't given up smoking he would have been after at best a mild heartattack. He still misses his smoking but is admanent he'll never smoke again.

iPlop

Glad I have my electronic cigarette ,far better than the real thing IMO

AnonoBoy

Smuggled cigarettes don't give you cancer though, right?

Gunsfortoys

It is a win-win really. It will raise extra revenue and will deter kids from taking up the habit. I don't like that it is at the expense of peoples health but you can't really tell people what to do.

jimthemental

I quit lately and am delighted they're going up so I won't be stupid enough to buy a pack when I'm drinking anymore either.

Adam

Sink The Banana wrote: »

Glad I have my electronic cigarette ,far better than the real thing IMO

wut?

mickydoomsux

Disgusting, unhealthy habit. Eack pack should cost €20 to try to deter people. People found with smuggled cigarettes should be harshly fined.

Don't care if it affects "the poor". Walk past a dole queue and see how many of them smoke (well over half in my experience) and yet still crib about not being able to afford their mortgages/food.

My own father had to retire in his early fifties due to a smoking related illness and will probably eventually lose a leg. All because he was too stubborn to give them up. Completely his own fault and i have very little sympathy.

youcancallmeal

You can only raise the price cigarettes so much before it completely defeats the purpose. I would welcome a different approach to just banging on 50c every budget but I think Fianna Fail are busy with other stuff right now?

themadchef

I was smoking 20 a day when i gave them up in September. I know more and more people who are giving them up not only because of the obvious health benefits but because of the price.

I live in a rural part of the country rural (ok seriously rural ) and there is no supply form the black market so people have to pay full whack. The people i know giving them up are between 30 and 60 so all long term smokers.

So yes, lamp them up in the budget. Before the smokers start on me. I LOVED my smoke, it's not a choice i made to not smoke it's a choice to not die.

.

Asphyxia

Most of my sisters smoke and they can't even run up the stairs without nearly collapsing, my mother used to but gave up when she was in her 30's My boyfriends father is trying to give them up at the moment but so far no luck, two of his brothers smoke as well so it's sickening when they're smoking in our sitting room.

I always hated cigarettes I remember being 13/14 and smoking for about a week to be "cool" so ridiculous. So much money goes to waste on them for what you could save in a year you could go on a shopping spree or even a nice holiday, I'd sooner take that than a shorter, unhealthier life.

FatherLen

Giving up smoking is easy. I have done it hundreds of times.

starbelgrade

They can charge what they like. People will still smoke.

If the Irish Cancer Society believe that increasing the cost discourages people from smoking, then they are idiots.

The only way to prevent people from smoking is through education.

Prohibition of any kind never works.

RedXIV

i do think we should do more to get rid of smoking, every smoker i've ever spoke to (bar one) has said they would like to give it up at one stage or another.

However, i'm in agreement with the idea that black market cigs will only become more and more popular.

twinytwo

i dont smoke... but constantly jacking up the price of cigs... would be the only form of legal discrimination i can think of.

marcsignal

Sink The Banana wrote: »

Glad I have my electronic cigarette ,far better than the real thing IMO

waiting on one, should have it in the next few days.

Like many smokers, I want to quit !!

love it, but wish i'd never started :(

Duggy747

Boards Non-Smoker > Boards Smoker

I'm a smoker who needs to get off the dirty things so obviously I'm not exactly welcoming the price increase but I won't start flinging poo at government buildings either. I'm both smart and stupid enough to do things for myself without having to be shoved to one side.

Still, smuggled smokes will be a lot easier to get (They're already easy enough to bag)

Giselle

The more expensive they are the less likely kids are to take it up or keep it up, and more long term smokers will consider quitting.

Which means less health problems and human suffering caused by smoking related illness, less kids exposed to smoke at home, less strain on the health service.

Balance that against the numbers who get smuggled cigs, and I'd still say its the greater good.

jester77

syklops wrote: »

The state revenue aside though. I can't help wondering about the social impact of such measures. For people on low income and those on the dole, is it actually taking nearly 4 Euro out of the weekly shopping budget? Is the direct result of this increase that some people will be a little bit more hungry this Christmas? I suspect so.

What do other people think?

Cigarettes are a non-essential. It's nearly impossible to have any sympathy for someone who buys cigarettes and then says that they have no money for their bills or to put food on the table. Yes they are addictive, but it's not like no one has never been able to kick the habit.

orourkeda

syklops wrote: »

As a recent quiiter, and as someone who recently lost not 1 but 2 relatives to smoking related illnesses,I have mixed feelings about this. I wish I had never taken them up and wish no-other person would as well.

On the one hand hey its an extra 85 Million quid. That said though we are already losing loads of revenue through cigarette smuggling, and this will only make it worse.

As well as lost revenue to the state, it is also a new revenue stream for organised crime, so cigarette smuggling is a sort of Double whammy for the state.

I know a few people who have not bought a pack of cigarettes in Ireland since the last budget. Buying instead from friends who bring them back from abroad, or going up north for them. I am sure this condition will continue, and even worsen.

The state revenue aside though. I can't help wondering about the social impact of such measures. For people on low income and those on the dole, is it actually taking nearly 4 Euro out of the weekly shopping budget? Is the direct result of this increase that some people will be a little bit more hungry this Christmas? I suspect so.

What do other people think?

When you take into account the fact that an extra €85 million will be garnered, what good will come of it. It will either be spent on contributing to our debt or treating smoking illnesses.

Blazer

mickydoomsux wrote: »

My own father had to retire in his early fifties due to a smoking related illness and will probably eventually lose a leg. All because he was too stubborn to give them up. Completely his own fault and i have very little sympathy.

Aren't you a great son? Bet he's proud of you and what a miserable little person you've become.
Regardless of smoking and what a filthy habit it is some people just can't quit regardless of how hard they try..I've have some sympathy for them...but to say the same thing about your father beggars belief.
I'm kinda hoping he flogs the family home before he dies and blows it all on a cocaine/nicotine/hookers holiday in Las Vegas and leave you nothing in the will

cichlid child

Giselle wrote: »

The more expensive they are the less likely kids are to take it up or keep it up, and more long term smokers will consider quitting.

Which means less health problems and human suffering caused by smoking related illness, less kids exposed to smoke at home, less strain on the health service.

Balance that against the numbers who get smuggled cigs, and I'd still say its the greater good.

And all the people that give up smoking will live for another 20 or so years and collect their pension every weeek.

Duggy747

I hate that mentality that if a smoker stopped buying packs of smokes then somehow that money would wind up in a jar that would pay off that mortgage / ESB bill / more vegetables.

Smokers aren't exactly the only type of people with money woes, if they stopped buying smokes then it's not like their money will be put towards laying a path of gold.

€8 a pack, that's equal to roughly 2 pints / Chipper Feed / Take-away Pizza (actually would barely cover a pizza delivery) / chocolates / biscuits / other little treats that a person wishes to buy for themselves.

Hearing people say that to me boils my blood, especially when they're eating some fancy treat / drinking an expensive drink / holding an iPhone and I'm holding my phone that just................makes calls and texts.............wow, wish I had an iPhone but I need to buy smokes.........woe is me! :pac:

syklops

orourkeda wrote: »

When you take into account the fact that an extra €85 million will be garnered, what good will come of it. It will either be spent on contributing to our debt or treating smoking illnesses.

It wont put any extra money into treating smoking-related illnesses. Instead it will go into the black hole that is the states finances.

Buceph

Sc@recrow wrote: »

Regardless of smoking and what a filthy habit it is some people just can't quit regardless of how hard they try..I've have some sympathy for them...

Thanks for that. I was off them for a month over the summer.I had just graduated and was looking for a job, so I had plenty of time at home and whenever I got a craving I could go out to the garden and kick a ball about. With no jobs going I had to go back and do a masters. I knew going back to college would be the most difficult thing for me, and it eventually got to me a few weeks back. The pressure of essays, projects, and exams mounted and with a shop 30 seconds away I was in and had bought a pack. I've been back on them since.

I'm going to give it another go this Christmas when I have time off again. But I know what it's like when you get stressed. Living with my family I don't have real money concerns, but for someone struggling to get a job, I could see how they lure you back, despite the counter-intuitive aspect that you'd have more money.

I wish I had never started, but I was a thick 15 year old and thought I was invincible. I think kids will always start on them no matter the price. You'll just end up with three or four going in on a 20 box. Maybe if the guards were allowed to id the teenagers they see smoking and would rip the box of them up in front of them it'd help a bit. But do the guards even have time for that.

Cigs are a menace on society. But by god do I love them.

themadchef

jester77 wrote: »

Cigarettes are a non-essential. It's nearly impossible to have any sympathy for someone who buys cigarettes and then says that they have no money for their bills or to put food on the table. Yes they are addictive, but it's not like no one has never been able to kick the habit.

I hope the weather stays fine for you.

On the point of giving up. You have to WANT to do it. Not because you need to. Mentally you need to want to be a non smoker more than you want to pick up the lighter.

In my case, i was sick of it, sick of burning money, sick of the smell, the dirt of it just sick of the addiction. I made a pact with a friend to do it. We spent the entire first day together and i kid you not it was hour by hour for me. Cant describe how weak natured i am, she really kept me going. "sure you made it to 1 o clock, lets see how you feel at 2 o clock" along with the odd threat of going home and leaving me to it lol If i can give up smoking then anyone can.

Imho, cold turkey is the way to go. First day is a killer but after the 3rd day life is livable again... and 3 months down the line? Rarely ever think of them.

So do it in your own time, for all the right reasons, and dont let anyone make you feel like you HAVE to do it. Do it for you.

Support is essential.

Snakeblood

Duggy747 wrote: »

I hate that mentality that if a smoker stopped buying packs of smokes then somehow that money would wind up in a jar that would pay off that mortgage / ESB bill / more vegetables.

Smokers aren't exactly the only type of people with money woes, if they stopped buying smokes then it's not like their money will be put towards laying a path of gold.

€8 a pack, that's equal to roughly 2 pints / Chipper Feed / Take-away Pizza (actually would barely cover a pizza delivery) / chocolates / biscuits / other little treats that a person wishes to buy for themselves.

Hearing people say that to me boils my blood, especially when they're eating some fancy treat / drinking an expensive drink / holding an iPhone and I'm holding my phone that just................makes calls and texts.............wow, wish I had an iPhone but I need to buy smokes.........woe is me! :pac:

But that's 8 euro a day. An iphone costs 42 quid a month. You'd pay for an iphone in just over five days of smoking. If you got a pizza every day, that'd be excessive. 1 cocktail a day? every day? 8 euro a day, saved up for one drinking binge in a pub a week would give you 56 quid for booze. That'd buy 2 slabs of beer a week, or 48 cans. Plus a pizza.