----- Original Message ----- From: Chris Brogden Subject: Re: OT: helmets -was: Holding a camrea
> I'm with Shel on this one. Even if you have gov-funded health care (read: > taxpayer-funded), I still don't like those laws. If Ken has a valid > point, then I want smoking, drinking, and super-fatty foods made illegal, > since they're responsible for more health costs than motorcycle accidents. > Hell, why not make it illegal to do anything dangerous or bad to your > body? Where do you draw the line, and why? Well Chris, in our country, 80% of the price of tobacco is tax, and the liquor consumption taxes aren't far behind. I am sure they have tried to figure out a way to hit A&W hamburgers with an exceesive fat tax. If it wasn't that the hopitality industry in Canada has about the same clout with our governemnt as the softwood lumber industry has in the USA with the American government, there would probably be a cholesterol tax. OTOH, the major cause of high health care costs is people living longer. Smoking, drinking and all the other excesses we like to partake in don't add up to anything close to what someone in a government sponsored long term care home costs the system. They just passes a budget here in Saskatchewan. The price of a pack of cigarettes is now very close to 8 dollars. The tax bite is about 6.25. A pack a day smoker is now paying over 2200 dollars per year in extra taxes. I rather think that over their lifetime, smokers pay all of their health care costs in full, and probably the health care costs of a few of the jerks that complain about smoking. FWIW, I am a non smoker. William Robb - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
