[Smokers only] Was the increase enough to quit?

i started smoking around 11? quit when I was about 22 with a year layoff between 18-19 I think.

Cold turkey is absolutely the best way to go. I quit because ummm Mcgruff said it was bad.

Good luck to those who are quitting.

 

Taxes on alcoholic beverages haven't gone up since 1984. Yes, for 22 years, while the state has been slashing it's budget to the bone, and beyond. You're getting toll roads and pot holes, instead of maintaining what was once a state tax maintained highway system the envy of most countries in the world. You're having hundreds of millions of your federal tax dollars used by other states, because the state isn't providing matching funds, funds they claim not to have. That has resulted in a host of programs for the sick, the disabled, the elderly, and children being slashed. You're seeing our fine state park system crumbling around us because of a lack of funding, with your money paid for hunting and fishing licenses going into the general state budget, and not to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Why? Why can the state decide it's OK to rise cigarette taxes a dollar a pack, and not raise the tax on alcoholic beverages? Why can't they raise the tax 5 cents a beer. 5 cents a bottle of wine. 5 cents a mixed drink at a bar? Can anyone seriously say we couldn't afford that "sin tax?"

Why does the state refuse to even consider raising the tax on liquor? Ask the liquor lobby and those they give money to. For 22 years they can't manage even a nickel increase on alcoholic beverages, but they can raise cigarette taxes a dollar a pack in one year. By the way, I don't smoke, but I enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage.

Food for thought.

 

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/...en_selling_cigarette_in_a_hand_gel_across_U.S.

Walgreen selling cigarette in a hand gel across U.S.


NEW YORK - A new hand gel is starting to appear on drug-store shelves promising more than just an end to germs or dry skin -- this one claims to satisfy users' tobacco cravings for up to four hours.

Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain by sales, is now stocking its more than 5,500 stores with packets of Nicogel, a quick-evaporating gel made with tobacco extracts. The roll-out should be finished within a couple weeks, said company spokeswoman Carol Hively in an e-mail, adding that it costs $5.99 for box of 10 doses.

Nicogel, made by a unit of privately held Blue Whale Worldwide Inc., can be used when smoking is inconvenient, such as at work, on an airplane, in a theater or, these days, in almost any other public place.

Blue Whale, which also sells a smokeless tobacco substitute made from tea leaves, is hoping to cash in on the increasing number of smoking bans and the ill-effects of second-hand smoke, Chief Executive Bill Whalen said in an interview this week.

'The potential for this product is enormous,' said Whalen, a horticultural geneticist with a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. 'The most important thing is smoking bans. (Also, more) people don't want to smell like smoke.'

Nicogel, which is already sold in 40 other countries including the United Kingdom, France and Germany, could generate $200 million in U.S. sales this year, Whalen said, predicting that sales will reach $1 billion by the end of 2008.

Smoking bans, which have cleared some air in places such as New York, Washington D.C., Louisiana, and Philadelphia, are helping to make cigarette alternatives, like smokeless tobacco, the fastest-growing segment of the industry, according to Charles Norton, portfolio manager of the Vice Fund, which has $75 million under management.

The U.S. moist smokeless tobacco category, which is dominated by Skoal and Copenhagen maker UST Inc., is one-tenth the size of the cigarette market, but is seeing unit volumes grow 8 percent to 9 percent a year, Norton said. By contrast, U.S. annual consumption of cigarettes is falling 1 percent to 2 percent.

Cigarette makers such as Altria Group Inc. unit Philip Morris USA have been able to offset declining volumes by raising prices, Norton said.

MARKETING KEY TO SUCCESS

But Nicogel's success will hinge on marketing, Norton said.

'Even (for) the established smokeless tobacco companies ... it's all marketing and promotion spending and how aggressive they can be. For a small private company, I question how much marketing muscle they could put behind it,' Norton said.

Nicogel plans to spend 'upward of $15 million' this year on marketing campaigns in national newspapers and magazines, as well as through nightclubs and hospital chains, which Whalen said are interested in Nicogel for their patients, doctors and nurses.

The clear gel, which Whalen said will soon turn up in other large chains, has all the components of tobacco but lacks many carcinogens, which are formed as cigarettes burn.

Patrick Reynolds, spokesman for the Foundation for a Smokefree America, said many anti-smoking advocates will likely oppose the use of Nicogel, claiming that it enables smokers to avoid stopping.

'My feeling is different. I am OK with these products, which help a smoker get through nicotine cravings,' said Reynolds, whose grandfather, R.J. Reynolds, founded the tobacco company that became Camel and Kool maker Reynolds American Inc..

'Our feeling is that if you can ease a smoker's way ... if you can give them a little comfort or relief temporarily, we don't see anything wrong with that,' Reynolds said.

 

You got paid to watch p*rn? dude...

 

I am a very light smoker. One stick before work. A pack last me 2-3 weeks. No big deal.

 

Funny this got bumped...Just yesterday I asked my friend what he did...I thought he was going to say quit or something, but no...I think he said he bought a case plus 8 cartons, meaning 38 cartons...It was a little over $1000 right b/f the end of the year... He said it should last him all year, just keep them in the freezer...

btw, we stopped for gas after lunch and he found some p*rn magazines in the trash and took them home...Now I'm all for p*rn, but out of the garbage...it was in his car and I had to look at one of them, beaver something...

 

The convenience store by my apartment raised their two-fers from $4.75 to $5.75. Still paying less per pack than the prices before the tax hike.

 

On the Camel coupons? I had one store try that this weekend, and I walked out, and drove to the next store.

I'm also having a hard time with how the State can tax a tax. But I already ordered my first cigs online. 2 cartons every month. $41.88 incl. shipping. I'll be paying right at 2 bucks a pack.

 

Walgreens is like 3.79 a pack...They used to have them for 2.79-2.99 before the tax hike

 

They're just two packs wrapped together.

 

Studies have shown smokers to be less effective employee's because of the constant need to take smoke breaks. If you dont take smoke breaks every hour then this rule doesnt really affect you anyways.

* I just quit with my brother, sister and best friend we had the laser accupressure treatment and it worked for us. We all made a committment to quit together and keep each other accountable. My best friend was a 2 pack a day smoker he is going on a week smoke free.

Just luck to anybody trying to quit smoking.

J

 

People need to be less effective. We have way too much effectiveness.

 

I quit several years ago when they last had a $1 tax hike. My body feels fantastic now. I am in better shape than when I was younger.

For those who are trying to quit, stick with it, you will not regret it.
I quit cold turkey and the 1st week was hard. It got easier but in the 1st few months, you have to try to fight the urge just to have one puff, one cigarette ... DO NOT pick up that first cigarette. It is a killer. It will make you pick up the habit again.

 

Yes I am PocketMan Flex

And I am a VERY lucky man!!!!

 

I am weak, smoking alot less but still smoking so despite my previous vote I am still smoking; and dipping snuff.

 

Pfffft. What BS. Ever heard of the watercooler?