The Increase of Tobacco Tax Saves Human Life

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THE INCREASE OF TOBACCO TAX SAVES HUMAN LIFE Have you ever thought that tobacco is one of the silent killers of humans? There are millions of people who smoke today. Yet, there are millions of people who are also killed by smoking. The government should minimize the risks of consuming tobacco by making a regulation, such as raising the tobacco tax. This regulation is considered effective because it will decrease the number of smokers, keeps humans healthy and increases taxes to balance tobacco related expenses. Firstly, by making the tobacco tax higher, it will decrease the numbers of smokers. When the tobacco tax increases, the cigarettes price will become more expensive. In other words, the smokers would spend lots of money for smoking. As quoted by Depkes RI, the Ministry of Health Republic of Indonesia, Indonesian smokers commonly spend Rp 198,761 per month for buying cigarettes in 2013. If the price rises, Indonesian smokers will spend more money every month. This in turn, affects their expenses and they will think twice about spending more money on smoking. This price increase would especially affect the poor people. It is assumed that smokers would lower their consumption because of the price. Additionally, based on Global Adults Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2011, the percentage of men who smoke is 67.4% and the women who smoke is 2.7%. These percentages have increased double in the last three years. Therefore, if the cigarettes price is higher, it would persuade the smoker to decrease or even to stop smoking. In other words, the number of smokers can be reduced. Secondly, the increase of cigarettes price is also helpful to keep human healthy. It directly helps smokers to keep healthy and stay away from the diseases. In 2013, the international health organization WHO said that more than 70% of deaths caused by lung, trachea, and bronchus cancers were related to

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