Why Tobacco Will Never Be Banned

Despite all the hand-wringing from various government officials over health and tobacco use, the product will never be banned and here's why (from the Daily Caller):

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others in the anti-tobacco movement are working to turn America into a land without smokers. But what would an America without smokers look like?

Leaving aside the fact that more than 20 percent of Americans would be gone (or, more likely, extremely irritable), cigarettes bring in significant revenues for state and federal government.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the federal excise tax on cigarettes (currently $1.01 per pack) brought in $15.5 billion in revenue. That money went to fund an expansion of the federal State Children’s Health Insurance (SCHIP) program, which provides funding to states for health insurance for families that do not qualify for Medicare, but are still considered of modest means.

Cigarette sales are a boon to states as well. The tax imposed on cigarette packs varies by state, with Missouri having the lowest tax at 17¢ per pack and New York having the highest tax at $4.35 tax per pack. In 2009, states raked in more than $24 billion by taxing cigarettes and $8.8 billion in settlement payments from tobacco companies (under the 1998 tobacco Master Settlement Agreement).

Hans Bader, counsel for special projects at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, cited a number of studies pointing out, in an admittedly macabre fashion, that smokers also save taxpayers money by dying sooner and more quickly than the rest of the population.

“Smokers actually save the government money, both by dying earlier and thus reduce social security payments, and, to a lesser extent, by dying of relatively cheap ailments like lung cancer, a fairly quick killer, rather than more expensive, lingering ailments,” Bader told The Daily Caller.

In addition to folks extending their lives and adding additional burdens to the country’s already strained entitlement programs, John Nothdurft, director of government relations at The Heartland Institute, added that the government would likely raise taxes on other products if cigarettes were no longer available to tax in order to make up for the lost revenue.

Tobacco is the perfect drug...for government. Politicians know that most people who use tobacco will have a hard time stopping, and therefore they become the Christmas tree where all the tax ornaments can be hung. Want to fund some children's health issue? Tax cigarettes. Need new machines for your local county hospital? Tax cigarettes. The tobacco users may get mad, but they'll pay because they can't quit.

And the greatest percentage of tobacco users come from the lower income groups that don't have much political power, so they're not much of a threat to the politicians.

It's hard to imagine the government allowing the continued production and sale of any other product with such obvious health risks.