newsdesk@KDRV.com
KDRV
TV
1090 Knutson Ave
Medford, OR 97504
(541) 773-1212
I was listening to your news the other day about tobacco
& the new tax. I don’t understand how an alleged
news organization can consistently produce such half
truths and still walk around with a straight face.
What gets me is I doubt the tobacco companies are even
paying you any money now (i.e. advertisements) and yet you
still protect them (tobacco companies) like they were your
grandmother or something.
First of all, do you know what a drug addict
is? Apparently not; but I’ll leave it to you
to look up that definition. Calling people
that ingest nicotine “Smokers” has to be one of the
greatest all advertising coo of all time.
Think about it. These people are drug addicts
shooting up, well OK, smoking up in your face,
exhaling potentially carcinogenic fumes for all to enjoy,
stinking up any room they might be in; even if they are
not puffing, and tossing cigarette butts around for us all
to enjoy. All this and the tobacco companies managed
to get people to call it a “habit” and later a “dirty
habit” but not what it is. Why isn’t subjecting
someone to poison gas illegal? Oh, that’s right, it
is, unless of course it is cigarette smoke. Smoking
in your car with your child trapped inside with you?
Why that is not ‘child endangerment’ it is the “right to
smoke,” and nobody is telling me (them) what they can and
can not do. Cigarette Butts? Like the almost
piles by the bus station? Why that is not litter,
but city beautification. [sic]
Nicotine addicts (smokers) claim they are being singled
out for taxes. Lets look at that for a moment.
In 1960 the 8¢ tax on a pack of cigarettes accounted for
almost 33% of the cost. That would be 95¢ today if
indexed with the rate of inflation. If the federal
cigarette excise tax had kept pace with the Consumer Price
Index for tobacco products, it (the tax) would be $1.51
today per pack.
The world bank has documented the US cigarette tax and
being very low among high-income countries such as France,
Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain end even lower than many
developing countries like Argentina, Brazil and
Chile. Tax in the European Union runs from 2 to
almost 10 dollars a pack.
Each pack of cigarettes which is sold costs the U.S.
economy over $10.25 – Most of which is paid by non-smokers
in the form of not only higher taxes (to cover Medicaid,
Medicare, Veterans benefits, Indian benefits, MCH, and
more) but also has inflated rates for medical
insurance. Smoking costs Medicaid over 30 billion a
year compared with less than $7.5 billion in annual tax
revenue. Raising tax to only a $1 a pack would save
an estimated 900,000 lives annually, bring in 10 billion
more of revenue and decrease smoking by children by almost
10%.
All “News 12" (What a %^&* misnomer) has to say is
“poor addict”, oops; no, they (you) don’t even say that,
it is “poor smoker.” I’ve never heard you say “poor
cocain user” or “poor hereon addict” but poor smoker,
yes. Let me ask you one thing, does the person
who controls the content of your “news” also take drugs
(smoke)?
from Michael Nelson, chnl 12
Dear
XXXXXXXX,
Thanks
so much for your note. I have copied the script of
the story below. I don’t see any reference to your
concerns, nor do I see the story portraying smokers
as victims.
I think
you make good points, that smoking is an addiction,
much like other drugs, and it’s expensive for
taxpayers, as is obesity and alcoholism; other
“legal” health hazards.
It is
not really the role of journalism to condone legal
behavior—no matter how disgusting some may find it.
I
appreciate your comments, and thanks for watching
Newswatch 12!
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