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It is to a great degree. Many acquaintances have stopped smoking because it got too expensive. That many people stopped smoking is what enabled us to ban it in

It is to a great degree. Many acquaintances have stopped smoking because it got too expensive. That many people stopped smoking is what enabled us to ban it in so many places afterwards. The bans are a huge inconvenience to smokers. That's the point, but it would have been political suicide a few decades prior.

deleted 5y ago
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another-dave 5y ago
though if that's correct, in that case, wouldn't the 'sin' tax have been political suicide if that was brought in first when there was even more smokers?
- scrollaway 5y ago
  You can make a tax far more gradual than a ban. Slow boiling frogs and what not. And that is exactly what happened with cigarettes, at least here in Europe.
kennywinker 5y ago
If you’re just basing this on experience / memory idk if this is true. My memory says public opinion was swayed by advertising and health risks not cigarette prices. Without some hard data on this i think either story is just as likely true
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  > My memory says public opinion was swayed by advertising and health risks not cigarette prices. I'm confident smokers' opinions didn't reach quitting-stage due to ads.
  - kennywinker 5y ago
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775761/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775761/ > Results: On average, smokers were exposed to more than 200 antismoking ads during the 2-year period, as estimated by televised gross ratings points (GRPs). The odds of having quit at follow-up increased by 11% with each 10 additional potential ad exposures (per 1000 points, odds ratio [OR] = 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00, 1.23; P < .05). Greater exposure to ads that contained highly emotional elements or personal stories drove this effect (OR = 1.14; 95% CI 1.02, 1.29; P < .05)
    - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
      Was this study done in regions without cigarette taxes? Asking because about everyone ex-smoker I know (a LOT) quit after struggling to afford the things. Honestly, I can't come up with anyone who could be so powerfully swayed by ads that they could quit an addiction.
      - kennywinker 5y ago
        I don't know, you'd have to read the study. Point was they found a strong correlation between ads and quitting. Obviously the ads were communicating health information, so it's weird to say that the ads were the reason since it was likely the health information in the ads. It's also quite possible your friends feel more comfortable citing the cost over the health impact, since they would have known about the health impact when they started. "It got too expensive" is an easier out than "I used to not care about my health, but I do now"
- bluGill 5y ago
  They both had effects. I personally know people who quit smoking when it got expensive (for different levels of expensive). I also personally know people who quit smoking when they were convinced that it was unhealthy. Though all of the above quit before 1990 (US). Anyone who still smokes today, knows it is bad and costs money: they don't care. Now that I think about it most who quit because it was expensive were probably influenced by the unhealthy part, but it was the cost that finally tipped them over.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

another-dave 5y ago

though if that's correct, in that case, wouldn't the 'sin' tax have been political suicide if that was brought in first when there was even more smokers?

scrollaway 5y ago
You can make a tax far more gradual than a ban. Slow boiling frogs and what not. And that is exactly what happened with cigarettes, at least here in Europe.

kennywinker 5y ago

If you’re just basing this on experience / memory idk if this is true. My memory says public opinion was swayed by advertising and health risks not cigarette prices. Without some hard data on this i think either story is just as likely true

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
> My memory says public opinion was swayed by advertising and health risks not cigarette prices. I'm confident smokers' opinions didn't reach quitting-stage due to ads.
- kennywinker 5y ago
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775761/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775761/ > Results: On average, smokers were exposed to more than 200 antismoking ads during the 2-year period, as estimated by televised gross ratings points (GRPs). The odds of having quit at follow-up increased by 11% with each 10 additional potential ad exposures (per 1000 points, odds ratio [OR] = 1.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00, 1.23; P < .05). Greater exposure to ads that contained highly emotional elements or personal stories drove this effect (OR = 1.14; 95% CI 1.02, 1.29; P < .05)
  - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
    Was this study done in regions without cigarette taxes? Asking because about everyone ex-smoker I know (a LOT) quit after struggling to afford the things. Honestly, I can't come up with anyone who could be so powerfully swayed by ads that they could quit an addiction.
    - kennywinker 5y ago
      I don't know, you'd have to read the study. Point was they found a strong correlation between ads and quitting. Obviously the ads were communicating health information, so it's weird to say that the ads were the reason since it was likely the health information in the ads. It's also quite possible your friends feel more comfortable citing the cost over the health impact, since they would have known about the health impact when they started. "It got too expensive" is an easier out than "I used to not care about my health, but I do now"
bluGill 5y ago
They both had effects. I personally know people who quit smoking when it got expensive (for different levels of expensive). I also personally know people who quit smoking when they were convinced that it was unhealthy. Though all of the above quit before 1990 (US). Anyone who still smokes today, knows it is bad and costs money: they don't care. Now that I think about it most who quit because it was expensive were probably influenced by the unhealthy part, but it was the cost that finally tipped them over.