So I'm filling up my gas tank when I notice this sign proclaiming the price of cigarettes to be the lowest price of cigarettes allowed by law. And how much did that carton of the lowest price of cigarettes allowed by law cost? Just over 50 bucks. I was shocked. That's how much I just spent on filling up my tank.
I understand that the lowest cigarette prices are probably the off brands. But who in their right mind would spend $50 a week on cigarettes? The price of cigarettes has got to be pricing most of the poor and even middle America out of their range.
That's the greatest health care policy ever. But some folks are two steps ahead of the game. I had one patient who couldn't afford to buy their own as the price of cigarettes demolished their discretionary spending. Instead of quitting, they did what every self respecting addict does. So they rolled their own cigarettes. Five packs a day they rolled. Have you ever calculated the mathematics of a five pack per day smoker, a smoker who rolled their own as the price of cigarettes became unaffordable? That's one cigarette every 10.8 minutes, presuming six hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Or how about this couple who spent almost $9000 a year on cigarettes, even as the price of cigarettes went through the roof. They just moved to the cheaper brands. Of course their cigarette prices were no where near $50 a carton. In fact, being the thrifty shoppers they were, they whittled their price of cigarettes down to $2 a pack, or $20 a carton. Which is still expensive if your spending $80 a week on cartons of cigarettes.
Or how about my 83 year old grandmother with four children (all of whom smoke) and her 12 grandkids (five of whom smoke) who told me that it's finally time to quit smoking because she couldn't afford the price of cigarettes anymore and she was tired of her seventh admission this year for smoking related COPD. The reason? The recent federal excise tax. The price of cigarettes was bankrupting my granny. And I thought it was great. Finally something to make her quit. That federal excise tax will do more to help smokers quit than all the free Chantix in the world. Excise taxes on cigarettes are one of the greatest public health weapons around. I wish Obama would put his money where his cigarette is and triple the tax again.
What's the irony of it all? With healthcare reform moving full speed ahead and a generous government subsidy program ready to help pick of the slack of the down and out, who's looking out for the Treasury? No one. What smokers have here is a $2,500 a year habit that directly inhibits their ability to pay for their own health care. It's a shame that our government finds it necessary to pay $2,500 a year in subsidized insurance costs to poor smokers, who turn around and spend $2,500 on cigarettes. It is the epitome of bad government policy.
This is why every American who receives government subsidized health care should be forced to undergo random continine testing, or forgo the expansion of their nanny state benefits. A postive test should automatically negate $2,500 a year in subsidized payments. In a government which is bankrupt and picking up trillions of debt per year, we simply cannot afford to subsidize payments to the federally defined poor when they choose to spend their money on cigarettes instead of insurance.
Perhaps the price of cigarettes needs to reach $20 or more per pack before we can truly claim victory in the war against tobacco.
Instead of bankrupting granny, granny needs to invest in some free Chantix and finally kick the habit and save her Apple computer at the same time.
Instead of bankrupting granny, granny needs to invest in some free Chantix and finally kick the habit and save her Apple computer at the same time.
