The suit is for 50 billion dollars in damages for the health care that it cost the province to provide to people with illness caused by their smoking. The article laid out the tobacco company’s defense which is that selling cigarettes is legal in Ontario and the government collects 7 billion dollars in taxes each year form the companies. In fact 70% of the price of each package is made up of government taxes. The article reported that there are actually only 2 provinces in Canada that have either not sued or are not planning to sue the tobacco companies of their province.
I completely disagree with the government's lawsuit. It completely lets the smoker off the hock. The government is basically saying that it is not the person who buys and lights up a cigarette that should be held responsible. This idea seems wrong to me. Are we responsible for our own behavior or we not? I think the government can't have it both ways. if they are saying that smoking causes cancer than they should outlaw smoking and therefore they will have to give up collecting the taxes for it. That would be the fair thing to do.
I completely disagree with the government's lawsuit. It completely lets the smoker off the hock. The government is basically saying that it is not the person who buys and lights up a cigarette that should be held responsible. This idea seems wrong to me. Are we responsible for our own behavior or we not? I think the government can't have it both ways. if they are saying that smoking causes cancer than they should outlaw smoking and therefore they will have to give up collecting the taxes for it. That would be the fair thing to do.
I agree that it should be a person’s responsibility to take care of their own bodies. By now people should realize the risks involved in smoking. The government would be better off educating people of the risks involved with smoking and try and help reduce the amount of people smoking today. Cancer is a very real disease that will also cost our government billions of dollars in medical care. Education is the way.
ReplyDeletePeople have choices, whether to smoke or not. But most make the wrong choice by smoking. What the government is trying to do is to make a better choice for the greater good of the people but trying to cut down on the amount of cigarettes being produced, suing cigarette manufacturers 50 billion is in fact a good thing. And Mat, you cannot outlaw smoking, it wouldn't work, what they can do is try to slow down the production of cigarettes so it makes them harder and harder to purchase. Smoking leads to no good, only problems and complications.
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