Nov 15, 2017 -- 4:47PM, bongo wrote:
"Supporters of ( sin taxes ) should be prepared to explain to what extent they think the aim of cajolingpeople into adopting healthier lifestyles justifies forcibly reducing people’s living standards." Dr Kristian Niemietz Well done that whisky association though - they really tried to stop the rot, but the court has said the SNP can crack on and make poor people even poorer because the SNP have the right intentions.
being alcoholic is not an increase in people's living standards.
Either way, from what I gathered, the extra money goes to retailers. That's a really strange decision. If you want higher alcohol prices through state control, it should be in the form of tax that is only allowed to be used to fund alcohol therapies. In general though I tend to agree that higher prices and "sin taxes" aren't the ultimate tool. If you don't offer additional help for the already affected, they are not helpful.
We as a society need to stop trivialising, even celebrating, heavy alcohol consumption and do a better job at offering therapies. I could be wrong, but I'd think most of us on this thread will know at least one alcoholic personally. I know multiple ones myself.
Nov 17, 2017 -- 12:46PM, bongo wrote:
dave1357 thinks that The smoking ban in public places has quite obviously improved healthFirstly - if it's that obvious, give a link to the paper that shows this. One that has not been debunked on the excellent website http://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.co.uk/Secondly - even in some fantasy universe where it had an effect, does it justify the impingement on the liberty of consenting adults to do as they wish in indoor premises.Thirdly - are you aware that even if justified, you are making everyone else poorer because as the iea have showed, smokers, drinkers and sugar-fat eaters are saving the NHS money
yay, let's encourage people to get really ill, suffer, die young and miserable so the NHS saves some money