On a package of cigarettes the tobbacco farmer gets about 3.5 cents(cured). The tobbacco manufacturer,distributor, retailer etc. get about $1.21. The federal and provincial government get $8!!! Now on top of that all of the others(Farmers,manufacturers, suppliers, workers) send an additional amount for income tax, business tax, land taxes, workmans comp.,E.I. and CP. Lets say another 35% or about 40 cents! So the governments rake in $8.40/pack. If there are 7.5 million smokers smoking an average of 1 pack per day that works out to about 23 billion per year!
Now if the governments do as well on booze(and they probably do) we're up to around 45 billion!! Now I bet that goes a long way to pay the old health care bill??? And if you believe the tobbacco propaganda smoking kills you off about 7 years early so you don't collect your pension or clutter up the hospital too long! And a lot of drunks kick the bucket early!
We won't even go into the extra taxes on chocolate bars, soft drinks, and potato chips and how they also kill you off early. I suspect that if the government didn't have smoking, drinking, eating junk food and gambling we'd be in the poor house! And if they ever succeeded in turning everyone into a little puritan, at what rate would the income tax and GST have to be at?
Now if the governments do as well on booze(and they probably do) we're up to around 45 billion!! Now I bet that goes a long way to pay the old health care bill??? And if you believe the tobbacco propaganda smoking kills you off about 7 years early so you don't collect your pension or clutter up the hospital too long! And a lot of drunks kick the bucket early!
We won't even go into the extra taxes on chocolate bars, soft drinks, and potato chips and how they also kill you off early. I suspect that if the government didn't have smoking, drinking, eating junk food and gambling we'd be in the poor house! And if they ever succeeded in turning everyone into a little puritan, at what rate would the income tax and GST have to be at?
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