Summary: Tobacco Tax In Canada

Lee -Anne Goodman’s article (2014) on Tobacco tax in Canada discusses tax on cigarettes and its impact on the economy. Goodman touches on the fact that revenue generated from tax is used towards helpful initiatives such as “National Anti-Drug Strategy from illicit street drugs to prescription drug abuse.”. Goodman also draws on a key point on how raising tax can decrease consumption of cigarettes. Increasing the tax on cigarettes has been seen to increase tax revenue and in turn decrease consumption of cigarettes. However, the increase in tax revenue, there can be an impact to health care. Revenue from healthcare is impacted (decreased) because less people are smoking and less people need health care. Taxation is a form of government policy …show more content…
Goodman’s article discusses the positive affects that a tax raise on cigarettes can do for the economy. Tax revenue generated from cigarettes can be used towards helping fight illegal drug trade and drug abuse. The scholarly publication on “The Impact of Tobacco Tax Cuts on Smoking Initiation Among Canadian Young Adults,” also concluded that increased taxes can help to stop younger people from purchasing cigarette and tobacco products, which in the long run stops younger people from developing addictions. Positive outcomes come from government regulations, acts and policies as well. With the government controlling marketing and selling of cigarettes, less people are exposed to cigarettes and thus less people get hooked on them. However, the positive outcomes, there are also negative outcomes, for primarily the economy. Heavy tax on cigarettes stops a percentage of people from buying cigarettes but those same people can go buy from illegal dealers and that revenue is lost. By heavy taxation, some people are forced to stop smoking and that leads to less patients needing health care and medication, ultimately reducing revenue for healthcare. As seen in Ontario, the average cost of cancer treatment costs $3,400 and if less people are smoking, less people need cancer treatment, that money adds up and ultimately, a lot of revenue is lost for health care. Tobacco companies are restricted from advertising and marketing, and thus less revenue is made, people can not be influenced to buy their products. Overall less money can be generated by tobacco companies. Government regulations, taxes and acts can be seen to have both positive affects and negative affects. Positive effects come in the form of social improvements such as less smokers and acts that help stop illegal drug trades. Negative effects are more associated