We humans sure do like to meddle. No sooner does legal recreational marijuana go on sale in Colorado than a new study calls for the tripling of tobacco taxes. Indeed, the growing cultural acceptability of pot has gone hand in hand with the increasing stigmatization of cigarettes. For those of us who believe that what other adults choose to put into their own bodies is none of our business, it almost seems that any ground gained on one front is matched with an equivalent retreat on another.
It's for our own good, of course. Raise tobacco taxes so people will smoke less and you save lives. Never mind that higher taxes will lead to more smuggling of contraband cigarettes, which makes it easier for kids to get their hands on the taboo product. We'll just go after the smugglers with more gusto, says one of the authors of the study. More criminals and more cops. Great.
Smoking cigarettes is not a risk-free activity. Neither is smoking marijuana. Both have costs and benefits, but significant numbers of people look at those costs and benefits and choose to continue pursuing those activities. Both prohibition and punitive taxation disrespect those choices and treat the adults making them as though they were children. I'm for treating adults like adults, and letting them face the consequences of their risky behaviours.
Smoking cigarettes is not a risk-free activity. Neither is smoking marijuana. Both have costs and benefits, but significant numbers of people look at those costs and benefits and choose to continue pursuing those activities. Both prohibition and punitive taxation disrespect those choices and treat the adults making them as though they were children. I'm for treating adults like adults, and letting them face the consequences of their risky behaviours.
