by Chris Alexion, Copyright February 17, 2006, all rights reserved. 296 views
Cigarrettes are turning out to be more addictive than we thought–and I'm not talking about the nicotine. The new addicts, as a friend of mine pointed out recently, are the state regulators who've found the revenues from tobacco tax too good to quit.
The problem, in fact, lies at the heart of any so-called sin tax. Regulators put themselves in the self-contradictory position of both discouraging and encouraging an activity. On the one hand, we're jacking up taxes to dissuade impressionable citizens from indulging in unapproved pleasures. On the other, we're profiting from the habits of those who do indulge, and hoping they continue. "Quit smoking. But buy more cigs."
Some states even use revenues from tobacco to fund education. At which point we start to wonder whether we're obligated to buy smokes in order to help the little kids.
In Jon Foreman's words, "Clap your hands with the hopeless nicotines."
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