Vape Tax.. we all knew it was coming

[Toby iVapour]

Such as Australia. When I lived in Australia smoking was something many, many did. Cigs were cheap. You could get a box of 50 Horizon cigs for about £3 in the late 90's. Now (my dad still lives there) a pack of cigs costs about £25 and hardly anyone smokes. You just don't see smokers anymore and it's not something many seem to do.

Smoking rates have flatlined in Aus in recent years (despite the highest cigarette prices in the world, plain packaging and “world leading tobacco control”) -
https://colinmendelsohn.com.au/smoking-rate/

Australia’s official smoking rate declined by only 5% over the last 4 years (12.3% in 2018 and 11.7% in 2022).

Australia effectively bans the most successful quitting aid available: vaping nicotine. Vaping is readily and legally available in other western countries and is a major contributor to the accelerated decline in smoking.

 

[zouzounaki]

all your whingey, negative, critical comments

you might want to look back at the last page or two and have a think about this.

 

[andipandi]

Cannabis is illegal, it has little or nothing to do with the smokefree legislation in any case, whether combusted, vaped, dry herbed (heated), or eaten (edibles). Persons of a certain age and old hippies apart the last three ones are many people's choice of consumption these days.

 

[John R Phillips]

Smoking rates have flatlined in Aus in recent years (despite the highest cigarette prices in the world, plain packaging and “world leading tobacco control”) -
https://colinmendelsohn.com.au/smoking-rate/

That’s a very interesting graph - thanks for that.
So, there are proportionally more smokers in Oz than in the UK; and their rate dropped just 5% over that period compared to the UK’s 5 percentage points.
With raising the minimum age to purchase AND EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT the smoke free (sub 5%) goal looks attainable to me.

 

[MarylinC37]

you might want to look back at the last page or two and have a think about this.

Ah, you want to carry on arguing. Why doesn't that surprise me?

Have you ever given a thought to trying to say something nice for a change?

 

[Reti]

Smoking rates have flatlined in Aus in recent years (despite the highest cigarette prices in the world, plain packaging and “world leading tobacco control”) -
https://colinmendelsohn.com.au/smoking-rate/

You need a prescription there to buy nicotine. I'm trying to find out how difficult it is to get one. It could be a case of going to the GP and saying "I'm quitting smoking. Can you prescribe me some nic please" and you walk away with a prescription. Obviously that control is there to prevent non-smokers from becoming addicted to nicotine. The cost of normal cigs will be an off putting factor, then there's the prescription only nicotine for vaping. So the possibility of someone becoming addicted to nicotine is lower compared to a country with no or little controls on nicotine and where tobacco is relatively affordable. The worrying thing is that this government could potentially adopt a similar practice.

However, those statistics are different depending on the source of the information. Some places describe a steady decline in smoking throughout the last year or two.

 

[Reti]

That’s a very interesting graph - thanks for that.
So, there are proportionally more smokers in Oz than in the UK; and their rate dropped just 5% over that period compared to the UK’s 5 percentage points.
With raising the minimum age to purchase AND EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT the smoke free (sub 5%) goal looks attainable to me.

Keep in mind that the data in that graph is different to other sources. abs.gov.au shows a smoking rate in Australia of 10.1% which is lower than the UK's smoking rate of 13.3% according to ons.gov.uk

From a personal perspective of someone who lives there, my dad says he just doesn't see smokers about anymore. He says he doesn't see them outside bars. In the street, on the beach etc. I know that what you see doesn't necessarily reflect the facts, but walk down a street in the UK and you'll see it as a common occurrence.

 

[zouzounaki]

Ah, you want to carry on arguing. Why doesn't that surprise me?

Have you ever given a thought to trying to say something nice for a change?

can’t be arsed, i’m putting you on ignore

 

[Simon G]

Keep in mind that the data in that graph is different to other sources. abs.gov.au shows a smoking rate in Australia of 10.1% which is lower than the UK's smoking rate of 13.3% according to ons.gov.uk

From a personal perspective of someone who lives there, my dad says he just doesn't see smokers about anymore. He says he doesn't see them outside bars. In the street, on the beach etc. I know that what you see doesn't necessarily reflect the facts, but walk down a street in the UK and you'll see it as a common occurrence.

It might just depend where you live and places you go. I see very few people smoking these days... shockingly few to be honest.

 

[Crispycritters]

One thing that has me a bit concerned at the moment is although the Gov have indicated forthcoming vape taxes shouldn't be too punitive as they currently want to encourage smokers to make the transition to vaping if they can't succeed in quitting by other methods, the current difference in pricing is enormous. A vaper can currently go into a high street shop and buy a 100ml shortfill and a couple of nic shots for £15,or 4 10ml MTL juices for approximately the same price - a smoker is looking at £12 for a budget brand pack of smokes or £15+ for a 'decent' pack Even 50g of budget rolling tobacco for those that roll their own will be £30.

I pretty much accept that vape taxes are inevitable, but one disturbing thing that is itching at the back of my head is tobacco and alcohol have always been easy targets for taxation - but a lot of pubs were struggling pre-covid, the majority of these went belly up during lockdowns (in Plymouth several of them are still boarded up with 'To Let' signs outside, a few were taken over, but the majority of the small inner-city pubs have now been converted into flats. Now most are struggling because of eyewatering energy costs. Continuing to raise alcohol taxes will probably wipe out the pub trade completely. Smoking is reducing, but if taxes are raised much higher more people will quit (which the Gov pretend to want because they can give themselves a pat on the back and brag about a positive achievement for a change), but the obvious downside is, inevitably, they will get less overall tax revenue from tobacco.

I think once vape is taxed it will become the new golden goose that becomes a target for extra taxation at every budget - even if the proposed (inevitable) vape taxes are relatively low I cant se them remaining low over the coming years.

God, I'm a fcn misery guts lol.