'£10 licence to smoke' proposed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7247470.stm

To summarise, people who want to buy cigarettes would have to buy a permit. This would be yet another infringement on individual freedom, yet sadly I can see most people supporting it because of the "smoking is bad" mentality of the nation. It is bad for you, but of course that doesn't mean it should be restricted, and ultimately banned.

I have never been to the UK, are there sales taxes upon the cigaretts themselves? That is what we have in the United States. I am not a smoker but I think both are wrong. In my state (Florida) you are also required to buy a liscence to sell them.

ryanpatgray:

I have never been to the UK, are there sales taxes upon the cigaretts themselves? That is what we have in the United States. I am not a smoker but I think both are wrong. In my state (Florida) you are also required to buy a liscence to sell them.

 

Yeh, the taxes are insane. In addition, if I remember correctly smoking is now banned in public place, as throughout a lot of countries in Europe. Soon they will ban you from smoking at home, in case you set your house on fire or something.

Ridiculous. Simply enforce property rights and the problem is solved. Some bars and restaurants will have smoking allowed, others won't, and then the people that smoke, or don't mind smoking, can go to one restaurant, and the others can go to another where it is disallowed. But putting a flat out ban on all public places, together with huge taxes, and now a license fee is ludicrous. 

Hey, we already pay 125 GBP for a freakin' TV licence, why not 10 GBP for the privilege to smoke? Why not video games too? Eating junk food (they've contemplated this)? Breathing...? Eventually, you'll need a licence to engage in any activity that exceeds your 'needs' and is thereby considered 'wasteful', bringing the Marxist utopia into fruition.

or even the classic movie THX1138

I blogged about this the other day. In Ireland, it is already illegal to smoke in the workplace, meaning that it is banned in all pubs, clubs and restaurants. Off-licence sales have jumped ahead of pub sales for the first time now and there are reports of many pubs closing down (very hard to measure the market due to pub licensing system):

http://www.airinitiative.com/pub_closures.html  

ah to be the handicapper general 

 

Jason Bourne:

ah to be the handicapper general 

Diana Moon Glampers?