Government should tax tobacco over and above the cost to the health system, to make it prohibitively expensive for children to start smoking.?

On average, everyone agrees with significant nonconsensus between 247 voters.

Reasons To Disagree

Wouldn't it just be easier to prohibit the sale of it to anyone under the age of 20 and anyone who hasn't got grey hair is to be asked for ID. Then again if kids are exposed to parents who smoke they are probably going to have the same health issues, so why not just prohibit it altogether(but then the government would loose all the tax money. Boo Hoo)

Once a government alleviates negative externalities on other people (e.g. in this case, the effects of passive smoking; costs to the health system) its role ends. The state should not intervene to supercede individual rights of choice when all negative externalities are accounted for.

Kids start smoking from freebies they get from others (including parents) or ones they steal from people.

There are many cash cows the government sucks on continuosly, this is just one of them. Petrol and alchohol are another good example. The government likes cash cows like this, it will never increase the price beyond the citizens ability to pay because it needs the numbers of users to be consistent to feed its ever increasing gluttony

selling the cigarettes to minors is not the problem no matter how tough the laws get there will always be a way for cigarettes to end up in the hands of teenagers, its what we should do to prevent cigarettes from coming in to the country

Yeah - right! Then they'll nick the fags instead. Nanny State again - MYOB!

Yes restrict my freedom by making a public health system then use it to justify restricting my freedoms even more. Whoever thought of this question is pure evil.

Reasons To Agree

Smoking is a terrible habit and the more expensive the better

Selling tobacco at a higher price won't do much difference but it will make it harder for youths to start smooking regularly so youths may start stealing buying ilegaly etc. cigarettes from other people.

internationally and in NZ it's shown that increase in taxation stops initiation and reduces consumption - a no brainer!

I agree with the last comment. Smoking related diseases kill more people than all the illegal drugs put together. It clogs up our hospitals who are at breaking point. Just ban them. Sure there might be an underground movement to sell them illegally and you can stop this but it sure as hell makes it harder for smokers to stay addicted. Addiction help needs to be free. This cost would offset comnpletely and more the present long term health costs we all pay in taxes.