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> Raising the cost of tobacco contributes more than half the effect of getting smokers to quit and to stop teens from ever starting. Yes, though it's also cre

> Raising the cost of tobacco contributes more than half the effect of getting smokers to quit and to stop teens from ever starting. Yes, though it's also created a thriving black market for cigarettes, often trafficked from other states or otherwise sold without paying end-consumer taxes[0]. Separately, it's worth noting that the age for purchasing tobacco in NYC is 21, as opposed to 18 in most other places. Furthermore, it's also just really damn hard to smoke in NYC. It's been banned in restaurants and bars for fifteen years, long before that was commonplace in other places. More and more buildings are smoke-free, which makes it less and less convenient for people to maintain a smoking habit. [0] The cost of having an illegal market isn't always monetary. For example, Eric Garner was killed after an encounter in which police approached him because they claimed he was selling untaxed cigarettes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner

davidf18 9y ago
> "it's also just really damn hard to smoke in NYC." Yes, it is :-) Also banned in the parks. The age increase to 21 is a relatively recent change, the adult rate had been 14% and the teen rate 7% prior to that change. Taxes, banning smoking in public places, hard-hitting anti-smoking ads spending $1 to $2 per capita are the main reasons for decline, all policy. Clinical intervention is also important, but have less effect than the policy.
seanp2k2 9y ago
21 in CA as well as of March 2016 http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/05/476872674/california-raises-age-of-tobacco-purchase-to-21-and-tightens-vaping-rules http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/05/47687267... I didn't notice until very recently when I saw a sign on a cash register (I don't smoke). Good for us. It's also very hard to smoke here, many places have lots of rules about where you can do it (not indoors, really far from doors, etc). I'm kind of surprised that people still bother. That said, when riding a bike around, it's very apparent that many people smoke weed in their cars now. You can smell it for about a block or two behind their vehicle.
- abalashov 9y ago
  No kidding! I was just thinking about this last night on my 34 mi bike ride in the rural bits surrounding Athens, Georgia. It seems like every third car that passes me emits the scent of weed in some way.
xzel 9y ago
I find it much easier to smoke here than when I lived in Seattle, where everything is smoke free there; vape culture is also much bigger on the West coast. I actually haven't noticed being in a smoke free apartment in NYC, yet. But certainly right about the black market. Go to any bodega enough for them to remember your face and you'll get the under the counter 7-8 dollar packs imported from Virginia.

davidf18 9y ago

> "it's also just really damn hard to smoke in NYC." Yes, it is :-) Also banned in the parks. The age increase to 21 is a relatively recent change, the adult rate had been 14% and the teen rate 7% prior to that change. Taxes, banning smoking in public places, hard-hitting anti-smoking ads spending $1 to $2 per capita are the main reasons for decline, all policy. Clinical intervention is also important, but have less effect than the policy.

seanp2k2 9y ago

21 in CA as well as of March 2016 http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/05/476872674/california-raises-age-of-tobacco-purchase-to-21-and-tightens-vaping-rules http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/05/47687267... I didn't notice until very recently when I saw a sign on a cash register (I don't smoke). Good for us. It's also very hard to smoke here, many places have lots of rules about where you can do it (not indoors, really far from doors, etc). I'm kind of surprised that people still bother. That said, when riding a bike around, it's very apparent that many people smoke weed in their cars now. You can smell it for about a block or two behind their vehicle.

abalashov 9y ago
No kidding! I was just thinking about this last night on my 34 mi bike ride in the rural bits surrounding Athens, Georgia. It seems like every third car that passes me emits the scent of weed in some way.

xzel 9y ago

I find it much easier to smoke here than when I lived in Seattle, where everything is smoke free there; vape culture is also much bigger on the West coast. I actually haven't noticed being in a smoke free apartment in NYC, yet. But certainly right about the black market. Go to any bodega enough for them to remember your face and you'll get the under the counter 7-8 dollar packs imported from Virginia.