Tobacco Taxes ebooksclub.org Tobacco or Health Physiological and Social Damages Caused by Tobacco Smoking Second Edition

substantial฀health฀gains฀among฀the฀socially฀weaker฀groups฀ [55] .฀Initial฀experience฀with฀an฀ approach฀of฀this฀kind฀could฀be฀gained฀in฀Canada฀in฀the฀years฀from฀1982฀to฀1991:฀the฀sharp฀ rise฀in฀tobacco฀duty฀during฀this฀period฀resulted฀in฀a฀40฀decrease฀in฀tobacco฀consumption,฀ smuggling฀ included฀ [56] .฀ An฀ even฀ bigger฀ drop฀ was฀ observed฀ in฀ New฀ Zealand฀ [57] .฀ However,฀such฀measures฀only฀take฀effect฀after฀several฀years฀ [58] .฀In฀the฀case฀of฀juveniles,฀ such฀tax฀increases฀can฀be฀seen฀to฀produce฀a฀decreasing฀interest฀in฀cigarettes฀over฀an฀extended฀ period฀of฀time฀ [59,฀60] .฀Initial฀fears฀of฀loss฀of฀revenue฀by฀the฀state฀and฀an฀increase฀in฀smug- gling฀prove฀only฀limited,฀because฀the฀tax฀revenue฀per฀pack฀increases฀considerably฀ [61] .฀ However,฀these฀increased฀revenues฀should฀be฀devoted฀to฀tobacco-related฀health฀projects.฀ Small฀rises฀in฀tobacco฀duty฀of฀the฀kind฀that฀came฀into฀force฀in฀Germany฀at฀the฀start฀of฀the฀ year฀2002฀have฀only฀little฀effect.฀Moreover,฀the฀German฀inance฀minister฀justiied฀the฀tax฀ increase฀by฀stating฀that฀the฀revenue฀would฀be฀devoted฀to฀“improving฀internal฀security”฀ ฀–฀a฀highly฀immoral฀argument฀as฀it฀could฀make฀smokers฀think฀that฀by฀consuming฀heavily,฀ they฀are฀performing฀a฀public฀duty.

14.7 Regulations on Smoking

A฀primary฀goal฀of฀tobacco฀regulation฀is฀to฀reduce฀smoking-related฀diseases฀and฀the฀general฀ harm฀to฀society฀arising฀from฀smoking.฀This฀includes฀the฀earlier฀mortality฀of฀smokers,฀the฀ damage฀to฀the฀health฀of฀non-smokers,฀and฀ultimately฀also฀the฀costs฀to฀business฀and฀the฀ economy฀as฀a฀whole.฀Tobacco฀regulation฀therefore฀has฀three฀important฀objectives: • ฀ To฀stop฀people฀from฀starting฀smoking • ฀ To฀ help฀ people฀ to฀ stop฀ smoking฀ or฀ to฀ at฀ least฀ substantially฀ reduce฀ their฀ tobacco฀ consumption • ฀ To฀protect฀non-smokers฀from฀the฀risks฀of฀passive฀smoking฀ETS The฀ results฀ achieved฀ in฀ many฀ industrialised฀ countries,฀ including฀ Germany,฀ have฀ so฀ far฀ been฀unsatisfactory฀and฀inadequate฀ [62] . In฀ March฀ 2000,฀ the฀ International฀ Society฀ Against฀ Cancer฀ and฀ the฀ Association฀ of฀ European฀Leagues฀to฀Combat฀Cancer฀put฀forward฀a฀further฀proposal฀for฀an฀EU฀directive฀on฀ 1971 6000 6500 7000 Taxation revenue in millions of pound sterling 7500 8000 8500 9000 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 £ 1.40 Year Price Tax revenue Price in pound sterling £ 1.60 £ 1.80 £ 2.00 £ 2.20 £ 2.40 £ 2.60 £ 2.80 £ 3.00 Fig. 14.2 ฀฀฀Real฀price฀and฀ tobacco฀taxation฀revenue฀in฀ the฀United฀Kingdom฀from฀ 1971฀to฀1995฀ [96] the฀control฀of฀tobacco฀products฀COM฀99฀594฀which฀contains฀several฀crucial฀points฀on฀ tobacco฀regulation: • ฀ Restrictions฀on฀advertising฀and฀effective฀warning฀of฀the฀health฀risks • ฀ Degloriication฀of฀the฀image฀of฀smokers • ฀ Regulation฀of฀the฀substances฀contained฀in฀tobacco฀to฀limit฀damage฀to฀health • ฀ Protection฀of฀minors฀by฀restricting฀their฀access฀to฀tobacco฀products • ฀ Increase฀in฀the฀retail฀prices฀through฀higher฀duties฀and฀taxes • ฀ Combating฀the฀inlux฀of฀cheap฀smuggled฀cigarettes • ฀ Eliminating฀the฀subsidies฀for฀tobacco฀growers • ฀ Requiring฀the฀industry฀to฀pay฀compensation฀for฀damage฀to฀smokers’฀health • ฀ Support฀for฀special฀lifestyle฀campaigns฀to฀dissuade฀young฀people฀from฀smoking • ฀ Advice,฀assistance฀and฀treatment฀to฀help฀people฀who฀want฀to฀stop฀smoking How฀this฀directive฀can฀be฀implemented฀is฀as฀yet฀unclear฀ [63] .฀However,฀many฀countries฀ have฀implemented฀a฀variety฀of฀restrictions. In฀England,฀smoking฀was฀banned฀in฀indoor฀public฀places,฀including฀workplaces,฀bars,฀ clubs฀and฀restaurants,฀on฀1฀July฀2007.฀Some฀places,฀such฀as฀certain฀smoking฀hotel฀rooms,฀ nursing฀homes,฀prisons,฀submarines,฀offshore฀oil฀rigs,฀and฀stagestelevision฀sets฀if฀needed฀ for฀the฀performance฀were฀excluded.฀Palaces฀were฀also฀excluded.฀Members฀of฀the฀House฀ of฀ Commons฀ and฀ the฀ House฀ of฀ Lords฀ agreed฀ to฀ ban฀ all฀ smoking฀ in฀ the฀ Palace฀ of฀ Westminster.฀The฀on-the-spot฀ine฀for฀smoking฀is฀varying฀and฀smoking฀will฀be฀allowed฀to฀ continue฀anywhere฀outdoors. With฀some฀of฀Europe’s฀highest฀smoking฀rates,฀Germany฀has฀a฀patchwork฀of฀smoking฀ bans฀because฀of฀its฀federal฀structure฀with฀16฀states.฀In฀general,฀smoking฀is฀banned฀on฀public฀ transport,฀hospitals,฀airports฀and฀in฀public฀and฀federal฀buildings,฀including฀the฀parliament. Italy฀was฀one฀of฀the฀irst฀countries฀in฀the฀world฀to฀enact฀a฀nationwide฀smoking฀ban.฀ Since฀January฀10฀2005฀it฀is฀forbidden฀to฀smoke฀in฀all฀public฀indoor฀spaces,฀including฀bars,฀ restaurants฀and฀clubsdiscos.฀However,฀special฀smoking฀rooms฀are฀also฀allowed฀but฀only฀ 1฀of฀all฀public฀establishments฀have฀opted฀for฀setting฀up฀a฀smoking฀room.฀The฀ban฀turned฀ out฀to฀be฀very฀popular.฀It฀is฀strictly฀enforced. France฀ tightened฀ an฀ existing฀ ban฀ on฀ smoking฀ in฀ public฀ places฀ on฀ 1฀ February฀ 2007.฀ Smoking฀is฀banned฀in฀all฀public฀places฀stations,฀museums,฀airports.฀However,฀there฀is฀an฀ exception฀for฀special฀smoking฀rooms฀fulilling฀strict฀conditions.฀Also,฀special฀exemptions฀ were฀made฀for฀cafés฀and฀restaurants,฀clubs,฀casinos,฀bars,฀etc.฀until฀1฀January฀2008.฀Opinion฀ polls฀suggested฀that฀70฀of฀people฀support฀the฀ban. Since฀all฀the฀United฀Nations฀properties฀are฀not฀the฀subject฀of฀any฀national฀jurisdiction,฀ the฀ United฀ Nations฀ have฀ their฀ own฀ smoking฀ and฀ non-smoking฀ policies.฀ Following฀ the฀ gradual฀introduction฀of฀partial฀smoking฀bans฀between฀1985฀and฀2003,฀Secretary฀General฀ Koi฀Annan฀introduced฀in฀2003฀a฀total฀ban฀on฀smoking฀at฀UN฀Headquarters. In฀the฀USA฀and฀Australia,฀the฀number฀of฀smokers฀and฀the฀number฀of฀cigarettes฀smoked฀ at฀the฀workplace฀has฀been฀observed฀to฀decline฀when฀workplaces฀are฀declared฀smoking-free฀ [64] .฀In฀the฀USA,฀the฀smoking฀policy฀is฀determined฀at฀the฀state฀or฀at฀the฀municipal฀level,฀ but฀not฀by฀the฀federal฀administration.฀Therefore,฀smoking฀policies฀are฀clearly฀instituted฀at฀ the฀state฀or฀local฀level.฀Over฀50฀of฀Americans฀are฀covered฀by฀a฀ban฀ordinance฀of฀some฀ degree.฀The฀bans฀vary฀from฀total฀smoking฀bans฀even฀outdoors,฀to฀no฀ban฀at฀all.