The new taxes on cigarettes launched this week and the New York Health Department took the opportunity to roll out a new campaign to encourage smokers to quit.
I have mixed feelings about the tax increase. On the one hand, the additional taxes would help to offset the cost of caring for smokers, especially those on social assistance. On the other hand, I think that cigarette addiction is very powerful and pervasive - addicts, by nature, will find ways to pay for their cigarettes, even if it means going without other necessities which would prove beneficial to their health. This is particularly true of poor and/or disadvantaged smokers.
I have been hearing all week about the new ads running in New York. One in particular has been deemed so disturbing (featuring a child separated from his mother in a crowded train station) that it has made national news.
I tried to find the individual ads on YouTube, but wasn't able to do so. Instead I found a report on the controversial ads. Feel free to weigh in, I would love to know what you think. As the saying goes, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em."
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