I agree with you, jacking up the smoking tax is not the answer. I don't think free patches are either - the thing with the "anti-smoking movement" is that a lot of people take the answer to be 'force people to quit' but before you can overcome your addiction you have to want to quit. And when you point at someone and say "quit smoking or I'll fine you a million dollars!" you may as well ask them to stop breathing because it's comparably hard for someone who doesn't have the desire to do it.

Every smoker I've talked to who has tried to quit and failed has cited they just weren't in it (I've talked to a lot of smokers, since it's part of my job). The targets need to be the young adults - let those who've been smoking for the last 20 years make their own choices, but find ways to detract young people from picking up the habit.

From my experience more expensive cigarettes just pushes more people to contraband cigarettes (which are a *problem* in Ontario where people can with relative ease go to First Nations Reserves and pick up a carton for 10$, tax free!)

I was unaware the tobacco companies were being subsidized, but if you ask me their underhanded marketing (as you expressed, I wasn't aware that it was so bad!) of a product that was known (allegedly) to have long term health impacts (more importantly, for marketing an addictive product) deserves them not subsidization but instead jail time - and a lot of law suits. Unfortunately that's just not how the world works.

this is why we need to think twice about voting in a far right or (like now) a far left president. The logical progression from here is to socialize healthcare, put taxes on junk food (because people who eat bad food are a drain on healthcare), then raise all the taxes to pay for the black hole of socialism. Funny thing: overtaxing the rich (to give the money they earned to those who can't/won't earn money) makes the rich LEAVE THE COUNTRY. Then who do we tax? the richest people left. You may have noticed that the annual income cutoff (below which the current administration's taxes won't affect 'the little man') has repeatedly dropped in the past year.

sorry, but this gets me really p.o.'d

The money taken from tobacco companies after they lost the big class action suit is used for smoke prevention.

At least if you really wanted to you could stop smoking. Maybe sticking it to the man is the modiviation you've been looking for? Perhaps that motivation is else where.

I've watched a few of my family members die... right in front of me. If only they hadn't smoked themselves to death they might still be here today. What's really sad is that some of your mourning is clouded out by a little anger. You're mad that they couldn't stop; if not for their sake then for someone elses.