Although I agree with Mr.Dashek's assertion that the choice of whether or not to smoke should be left to the individual, he missed an important point regarding the purpose of the smoking tax increase, and the effect smoking has on the public in general.
The negative effects of secondhand smoke are well understood and publicized, but we often forget about the hidden costs related to cigarette smoking, including loss of worker productivity and increases in health care costs for everyone.
Insurance companies set premiums based upon the annual cost of services paid to health care providers. Because smokers are at increased risk of illness and disease, they will consume more health care services than their non-smoking peers. Insurance companies do not simply absorb these extra costs; they pass them on to all consumers in the form of higher premiums and deductibles, and decreased levels of coverage. So while a smoker's habit in private will not affect other people's health directly, it does affect all of us economically.
Too often, this tax is dismissed as an attempt by the state to simply increase tax revenues. There is a second effect of increasing the cigarette tax, and that is to decrease the costs associated with providing medical care for smoking-related illnesses.
If people quit smoking as a result of this tax increase, tax revenues will indeed decrease, but so will the costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses. This means less tax dollars will be required to support Badgercare, Medicare and Medicaid, and private insurance premiums will rise less quickly. Whether these savings will be sufficient to counteract the reduction in tax revenue remains to be seen, but we should realize that the subject is more complex than we generally admit.
I absolutely agree that people should be permitted to make their own choices with regards to their health and personal habits, provided their choices do not infringe upon the rights of others to do the same. However, they should also bear the full cost of their decisions. Smokers' freedom is not being infringed upon by requiring them to accept responsibility for the full cost of their behavior.
- Jeannine Szczech
UW-Madison graduate student
Chemistry Department
