Feel free to disagree

What doesn't kill you isn't worth much money!

Dear Snarkhunters,

It all started when I was returning from Christchurch a couple of nights ago. At the airport in New Zealand I visited the Duty Free store to purchase my two bottles of Scotch and a carton of “Marlboro Lights” for my room mate.

The entire transaction cost me $80 which at the time I didn’t think much about, however when my room mate told me on my return to Australia that you cannot buy a carton of cigarettes alone in this country for under $80, I had to ask myself, just how much money do the government make from us trying to kill ourselves?

Last year in Australia, tobacco was the leading cause of death totalling more than homicides and the road toll combined. Alcohol has always played a part in our mortality rate, even contributing significantly to the road toll in this country. So we have these two vices, designed to kill us (admittedly more so with tobacco) and our government are profiteers from the entire enterprise.

In fact, pay attention to the budget being announced on Tuesday. The taxes on tobacco and alcohol is going up and you heard it here on SnarkHunters first!

Frankly SnarkHunters, I’ve had enough. I would like to call on our readers to join us in a crusade to criminalise tobacco and alcohol in this country. I do not think it right that our elected representatives impose a cost on killing ourselves while still outlawing euthanasia. Why should our government, elected to serve us make money on our own stupidity as a nation and species?

Criminalising these narcotics makes perfect sense, our road toll would be lower by far, tobacco related deaths would cease to exist within fifty years and the life expectancy of our citizenry would increase dramatically by not being exposed to secondhand smoke or drunken idiots.

Let’s face it, marijuana is illegal. It is considered a dangerous narcotic and not legally allowed in this nation. The government in their wisdom do not try and regulate its use, nor do they try and profit from it.

Why not?

Because they can’t. Because marijuana is able to be home-grown and smoked without chemical additives, processing and all the other junk that is combined with tobacco, wrapped in thin paper and sold to the suicidal Australian. Marijuana is something that grows easily, quickly and cannot therefore be regulated. The government are therefore unable to impose excise, tax or duty on the product so therefore it is a dangerous narcotic and illegal in our country.

I wonder how many marijuana-related deaths there were in Australia last year? I wonder how that number compares to the total number of tobacco related deaths. I wonder if the total number of marijuana deaths in Australia in the last year exceed (or even match) the total number of deaths, in our country, that would qualify the corpse for the Darwin awards. I wonder if the total number of marijuana related deaths come close to the number of freak accidents that you would never expect, nor be prepared for.

Yes Snarkhunters, you are far more likely to die from a Russian space station falling apart and the toilet seat from said space station hurtling through the atmosphere and killing you on impact.

I asked the question regarding numbers ... the truth is, I already know.

Last year there were over 15,000 tobacco related deaths in Australia. Less than 3000 people died on Australian roads. Last year there were 1020 deaths relating to alcohol and there were 10 deaths that doctors attribute to marijuana. Of these ten deaths, the actual cause of death was predominantly suicide with depression and schizophrenia cited as the cause. The doctors just blamed the marijuana. The total number of deaths due to illicit drugs in Australia last year was just over 1200. So over 12 times as many people die from tobacco than from heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and marijuana combined.

Maybe the government should legalise heroin as well?

Tobacco and alcohol cause so many more deaths, perhaps the government should consider if it is worth the billions of dollars it earns each year from these products.

Now, I bought two bottles of Scotch coming back to Australia. Yes, I like a drink. Do I particularly want alcohol criminalised? Not really. Do I want tobacco criminalised? I don’t really care. If you want to kill yourself with a cigarette, more power to you my friend. Do I want marijuana to be legalised? You know what? I don’t really care about that either. I smoked it once in high school, yes I did inhale – but it wasn’t something I enjoyed. I don’t care if you do it, just don’t pass the joint to me.

What I care about is blatant hypocrisy in our government. Yes, it’s illegal. No, you can’t do that. Why? Because of the dollars in it for them.

Canberra, if you want to deny these allegations, if you want to say it has nothing to do with the taxes and duties then go right ahead. Put your money where your mouths are and remove all the taxes on tobacco and alcohol products.

Because until you either remove the taxes, criminalise tobacco and alcohol or decriminalise marijuana and amphetamines, then it’s just blatant hypocrisy.

Feel free to disagree.

Joe

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