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Florida cigarette taxes: Do you support higher cigarette taxes in Florida?
Comment: i think the government rips us off enough. i am not a smoker, but i believe money we pay tax on for other things on isn't used appropriately, so why give them more. case in fact who covers for the senators that we pay fo while they're all off running for president/shouldn't be happening!!! cut a few politicians and we'll have money. from destin florida by cindi
Comment: if they raise the taxes on smokers then they should raise the taxes on those who drink alcohol.the drinkers kill more people on the roads than smokers. from mary esther,fl by ken
Comment: The state should be making the doctors diagnose people for what is truly wrong with them instead of blaming everything on smoking. I had to leave Florida and go to another state to find out what true health problems I did have. Doctors in Florida use cigarette smoking for the cause of everything and do not give good health care because they can get away with it. I wonder how many people have died because of being told, "You just need to quit smoking, that's all." from Milton, Florida by CJ
Comment: no, I dont beleive it would be fair. Smokers aren't allowed to smoke where they want, and it just seems like when anyone has a problem raising the taxes on ciggarettes is the way out. Live and let live, if a citizen wants to smoke a ciggarette and they aren't dong it around others then why make them pay a higher cost to do so? Prices on everything are going up, I don't think the state should join in the pre-recession. from Pace/FL by Cretia
Comment: NO NO NO. Tax Booze instead and keep them off our roads!!!! from Gulf Breeze, FL by Betty
Comment: Yes, cigarette smoke makes me feel physically ill and the cigarette butts all over the road sides make our area very trashy looking. from Milton, Fl by Joyce
Comment: I believe a tax increase on cigarettes will motivate smokers to eventually quit the habit. I'm a former smoker, and cancer victim, for the 2nd time. I wish i never started smoking when i was a foolish young adult. I hope the cigarette tax will be suffie=cent enough to force peoples to "just say no"! from Navarre, Florida by Paul
Comment: If they use the money for stop smoking it would be great but they will try to backfill any shortages in tax revenues. Prohibition never works, the habits just get costlier. from Milton FL by John
Comment: Just a short note to say I agree with you Bob,as long as the money collected is used exactly the way we've been promised. from pensacola,fl by belinda
Comment: I don't smoke however everyone knows smoking is bad for them. Funding stop smoking classes will only yield a small percent of those who choose to attend. Most will go back to smoking. You must be ready to stop. from Crestview, FL by Steve
Comment: I believe that the tax should be raised high, I am not a smoker and I do not see what is so special about a puff, all it breaks down to be is a cancer stick and for all who does not smoke, second hand smoking is a killer. We all have enough time breathing with the air and the polution. I also think that all of the drive thru areas need to be smoke-free as well. Raise the taxes, and use it for all of the children in the school district. Why should we help them break their habit they know the consiquences they should want to stop on their own. from pensacola, florida by stacey
Comment: I believe we are ranked 46 lowest tax state. I would love for our state to keep up. If it was that expensive back when I started I would not of been able to smoke. I am fighting now to stop. I live with CANCER and would love it to be a thing of the past not something we keep passing down to the next generation. We dont need anyone else to fight for their life and fight with all the illness that smoking cause us and our families suffer along with the one who are sick, the community pays to. This should of been done along time ago. We need to stay on top of the government official to get the $$$ in the right places. Do our budget as if it was their own $$ no free $$. Thanks from Pensacola,Fl. by Sandi
Comment: The tax on Cigarettes is already excessive and poorly utilized.. from Pace, FL
Comment: Bob, you are spot on. I support a tax if the state uses all revenue collected with the higher tax to promote anti-smoking education and assist in prevention. Otherwise it becomes like the lottery system plan and the failed promises to our education system.
-R from Pensacola, FL by Rich
Comment: Being a former smoker of 43 years, my question is, why is Fl. cigarette taxes so far below the national average? I say raise it to at least the national average. If the current smokers can't handle it, there are 2 alternatives, quit or move. Trust me, I would have continued paying and smoking, if I hadn't got an offer I couldn't refuse in 2000. Our tax should be in Ky. or N. C., where tobacco is, or was,the major crop. from Pensacola, Fl. by Fred
Comment: don't smoke! how can I coment on the rediculous bail settings??? from cantonment by ralph
Comment: Put extra money in something that matters....schools, etc. from pensacola florida by jn
Comment: Yes, maybe it will make um quit. from Milton by Teresa
Comment: No, cigerettes are high enough, why don't they tax beer and whiskeys this go around, pick on the alcoholics instead of the smokers for awhile. from Brewton, AL by Susie
Comment: Never helps any smokers
Comment: Why should smokers be penalized - and I don't smoke but disagree with this. from Crestview by Jim
Comment: yes, anyway that will save money in healthcare for those who don't smoke is wonderful. And as much that we dnow about smoking you would think people would want to stopsmoking where I work we our not to have any tobacco around us our we would lose our job. I don't smoke and belive its time to but, there foot down when it comes to tobacco! from Jay,Fl. by Barbara
Comment: I DO NOT SUPPORT THIS TAX, I AM STRESSING BAD ENOUGH WITH THE HIGH GAS PRICES!! I NEED THAT SMOKE!!! from SEMIMOLE,AL by WENDY
Comment: I think they should tax alcohol. that kills people also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from pensacola,fl by elizabeth
Comment: No, I do not support ANY TYPE of increased taxation in this country. I quit "COLD TURKEY" twenty years ago. I'm sixty years old today, so I was forty when I quit (and had been smoking since I was in high school). If I could do it, anyone could do it. Suppose we insist on our legislators reverting back to five figured incomes and use that money for "quit smoking classes". from Mary Esther, FL. by Tom
Comment: Well Bob, I appreciated your three cents on higher tobacco taxes. It's unfortunate you want to tax the current highest taxed citizens even more. Yes, I am a smoker and recently retired on a fixed income. Whenever you tax a LEGAL PRODUCT beyond affordability, major problems arise - BLACK MARKET, CORRUPTION, CRIME. To generate this so-called ECXTRA MONEY, why not put a .25 cent tax on every bottle or can of beer and all mixed drinks. While we're at it, might as well put a $5.00 tax on a bottle of booze or wine. I'm sure the drinkers in this state would be more than willing to cooperate. If we still need more money, put a .25 cent tax on all sodas (Coke, Pepsi, etc.). Sorry Bob, we don't need higher taxes, we need our incompetent politicians and government employees to spend OUR money wisely from GULF BREEZE, FL by JERRY
Comment: pitts one person against another to raise tax's from pns,fl. by john
Comment: it might make my mom stop smoking and i wont have to suffer from second hand smoke!! from Gulfbreeze florida by Austin
Comment: It is really hard to say. I am against smoking, yes, however in our area people can just drive 30 miles or so to buy cigarettes in Alabama. In lue of that, it may hurt Florida more then help. from Cantonment FL by Jeremy
Comment: Ahem...when the politicians, insurance moguls and big industry (like Gulf Power) agree to a new tax of $10.00 per bottle of booze, freely poured at their cocktail parties, then I might agree with a cigarette tax. More people die each year from alcohol-related deaths than from cigarette smoking.
I forecast that instead of opening up smoking cessation FREE CLINICS with the new tax money gouged out of smokers, the politicos will laugh at the stupid unrepresented smokers' "donations" to the Florida General Fund, which funds their cocktail parties, trips abroad, and their opulent lifestyles.
How much of the Lottery money ACTUALLY goes to the school as promised? The same will happen with a discriminatory add-on tobacco tax.
History has proven these to be facts - and not just my conjectural opinion.
Don't make smokers pariahs and pay additional sin taxes, but help us rid ourselves of tobacco addiction, please.
from Pensacola, FL by Brian
Comment: I do not support this tax because smokers are going to smoke no matter what the cost and with low income families, the children are the ones that suffer. The parents buy their cigarettes and the kids do without necessities. I would love to say go ahead and tax them to death but I have seen how the selfish parents are. from Pensacola by Susan
Comment: No I do not believe they should be allowed to use this money in the general fund. I also do not believe they should be able to punish the smokers with a larger tax. Tobacco users are being punished for being addicted to tobacco, what next are they going to tax the alcohol? Probably not, this is absolutely ridiculous after they will not let anyone sue the tobacco companies after the State sued them in 95. I say use the money to pay medical bills of people who were injured by tobacco usage. That afterall is what the suit was for. from Milton by Michelle
Comment: No more taxes period. If we are really worried about health, add taxes to twinkies and a few more cents to alcohol. from Pensacola by Pam
Comment: You are taxing us out of house and home. Enough is enough. Pretty soon I will be homeless and then I can't pay any tax. Leave us alone! from Pensacola by Brenda
Comment: If you smoke.........good if you dont........ GOOD 2... non smokers like myself shouldn't have to pay on taxes we dont use from Milton by Timmy
Comment: There is no reason for this and we are taxed enough which our elected officals seemly do a lot of wasting of our taxed dollars.
True, I smoke outside of my home and feel its fair to the majority that smokers don't smoke in eating places, but I am against the ban on smoking in bars, but do feel that its up to the owners to have the choose of smoking or not.
from Pensacola, FL by Raymond
Comment: No I do not support the higher taxes on cigarettes. Smokers will smoke regardless if taxes are raised why tax smokers. It's a free country and we have the right to smoke.. Soon it will higher taxes on anything and everything this is just where it starts.. the seven and a half cent sales taxes that part of it is supposed to go to the local schools.. I have been out of school for almost 6years now and still don't know where the money is going. from Pensacola fl by Tracy
Comment: why not start harrassing the drunks on their alcohol. They kill innocent people. The smokers mainly just harm themselves. I think it's rediculous the way society has treated smokers. Lets start a campaign against alcohol and get the drunk drivers off the road. from p'cola by martha
Comment: as they keep raising this tax they may kill the golden goose
when no cigarrets even get sold in florida from niceville,fl by john
Comment: I have the pictures of all the callgirls at the Emporors Club where Governor Spitzer hired the chicks if you are interested send me an e mail I can use to send the actual pictures will all specifications, you will not beleive what you see from Robertsdale, Al by HAROLD
Comment: Health care costs from smoking affects everyone. So, higher taxes would help offset these costs. from ft walton beach/fl by clayton
Comment: i'm a smoker from crestview,fl by sunny
Comment: I think that poeple should stop smoking bcause it's not just hurting them,but everyone around from Pensacola,Fl by Lisa
Comment: Raise the price of the cigarettes as high as possible then TAX them to the highest amount possible. Then make it Illegal for them to smoke anywhere in public. from Milton by Jim
Comment: Yes, raise the taxes on cigarettes. It's an addiction like any other narcotic. We must stop it for their sake, and for their children. We must not feel sympathy for them because they harm themselves and everyone around them. from Pensacola by James
Comment: I smoke but I feel thqt the taxes are fair. from Navarre Florida by Ernest
Comment: The cost of cigarettes and taxes for them have already increased way too much over the last 10 years. I believe that we should cut down on some of the people and their salaries getting paid with our taxes instead of hiking prices up for every little reason they can thinkk of. from Pace, FL by Sheila
Comment: Yes I hate cigarette smoke and think it will make people think twice before picking up a cigarette. from pensacola, florida by C
Comment: The tax should be put on alcohol. Stop picking on the smokers. SMOKERS don't kill people while driving. Smokers don't go to jail for sui..smoking under the influence..smokers are not filling our jails .. get the point? put the tax on alcohol . from Crestview, Fl by Audrey
Comment: I don't smoke but the money could be use for helping our young kids not to smoke. from Crestview by Jo-Ann
Comment: I think if they raise the tax on cigarettes people will have a harder time buying them,there for helping them quit. from milton by john
Comment: I think cigarettes, snuff and tobacco in general should be taxed to the maximum. Many people decry taxing tobacco as they claim that we are taxing those of us least able to afford it. I think that is just exactly the idea. Those people that are in the lower income brackets, and many in the medium bracket shouldn't be wasting their money on tobacco, particularly when they have a family to support. from Pensacola, Fl. by Rodric
Comment: smoking is wasteful and it kills! like my boyfriend says "you ended up smelling like a cigarette all day and i wouldn't want to kiss someone who smokes." from Pensacola,fl by Amii
Comment: IF THE STATE GETS EVERYONE TO QUIT SMOKING THEY WILL LOSE TAX MONEY. THEN WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO TAX US FOR? MORE TAXES ARE NOT WHAT WE NEED. LEAVE US SMOKERS ALONE. from Pensacola, fl. by Tommy
Comment: IF THE STATE GETS EVERYONE TO QUIT SMOKING THEY WILL LOSE TAX MONEY. THEN WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO TAX US FOR? MORE TAXES ARE NOT WHAT WE NEED. LEAVE US SMOKERS ALONE. from Pensacola, fl. by Tommy
Comment: Cigarettes are like gas. No matter the price, people are willing to pay up. from Navarre FL by David
Comment: In trying to force smokers to quit, the government is taking away the individual's right to choose. That is dangerous ground. So many of our freedoms are being gradually eroded. We must draw the line somewhere and this is good a place as any. How many of our "rights" are the citizens going to be willing to forfeit? I believe too many are gone, now. NO MORE!!!!! from cantonment, fl. by barbara
Comment: YES , THEY ARE NASTY, CAUSING NOT ONLY THE PERSON SMOKING HEALTH RISK BUT ANYONE ELSE NEAR THEM. from GULF BREEZE by AMANDA
Comment: They are cutting schools and quality education BUT they are adding taxes where they are only punishing the people who smoke...How bout TAXING everyone...they will get more money. Just my thoughts! from Milton Fl. by Sarah
Comment: The money will be spent on some other rediculous program as was the money won in the big law suit. They should spend their time working on issues that really help the Florida citizens...like insurance and homeowner taxes. from Valparaiso by Donna
Comment: I think that this would be a great Idea. As a smoker maybe if the prices get to high I will have to stop smoking and I will do any thing to make sure children dont pick up this nasty habit I would have know then what i know now from Pensacola fl by Kimberly
Comment: Why is it that the cry for higher taxes seems always to be toward cigarette? Why not alcohol products from beer on up? from Pensacola by Betty
Comment: No I do not support higher taxes on cigarettes. Why don't they tax the alcohol instead? People that smoke cigarettes don't get behind the wheel intoxicated and kill or injur people, people drinking alcohol do. from Milton, FL by Michelle
Comment: Yes! If you have to increase the taxes on cigarettes then the money should go to help people quit. I am a smoker who would love to quit, but the cost to buy the drugs to help cost way to much, and my insurance doesnot cover any of the cost. So I still smoke! from pensacola by michelle
Comment: I believe they should start putting the taxes on alchol. Why not target the alchol taxes that kills more more than just one.They have taxed cigarets enough. from pensacola fl by Kathy
Comment: Anything to save a life from Pensacola, FL by Carolyn
Comment: It is insane to tax smokers. We have jacked up the price of tobacco products, made smokers smoke outside in the work place and at restaurants, some states are even trying to pass legislation that it's illegal to smoke in your own residence. Yet, it hasn't stopped smokers. Trying to tax someone for a habit is wrong. It doesn't stop them. It just pisses them off.
No one can/will stop smoking until they choose to stop and it's insane for us to think otherwise. Leave the smokers alone. Pick on somebody else, like the alcoholics.
I don't see or hear about legislation proposed to tax alcohol, yet drunk drivers are in the top 10 of deaths.
Find something else to tax. Leave tobacco alone. It's been taxed enough. from Pensacola, FL by Maggie
Comment: Yes, I agree with the tax. I am a heavy smoker myself. However, I do NOT agree it should go towards funding for those with the habit---it is the smoker's fault for continuing the habit & should pay for it. I believe the money would be better spent in helping our elderly people who really NEED the help. from Pensacola, Florida by PJ
Comment: i live part time pensacola and part time pascagoula. ive noticed way more smokers in pensacola and i would like that number to change. i care. so should you. from Pascagoula, MS by Charlotte
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