Alberta - Alcohol and tobacco levy starts today, buy beer now!

[ZenOps]

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...ub=CalgaryHome

"The cost of beer, liquor and cigarettes is going up starting at 12 a.m. on Wednesday.

The hike in price was announced Tuesday during the provincial budget.

A carton of cigarettes will increase by $3; beer will cost an extra $1.30 per case of 12; and a bottle of liquor will increase by $2.80.

The sin taxes are projected to bring in millions of dollars of revenue for the province.

The liquor tax hike alone is expected to generate $180-million each year."

They just announced it yesterday, you have about 3 1/2 hours at the time of this posting to get your sin on. I knew it couldn't last - pop is like half of what beer is now.

[cgtlky]

Both are bad to your health, TOBACCO cause CANCER. ALCOHOL too so

why bother to buy if they are bad to your health

[P1x44r]

Breathing air in will also kill you, so why bother doing that?

[JoeyB]

In Ontario we have a stupid law setting a minimum price
that a case of beer can sell for.
STUPID ANTI-FREE ENTERPRISE LAW!

[ullyeus]

Both are bad to your health, TOBACCO cause CANCER. ALCOHOL too so

why bother to buy if they are bad to your health

If you haven't figured out yet why some people choose to drink or smoke you need to...I was going to say go back to school...but maybe in your case...back to the womb?

[ullyeus]

In Ontario we have a stupid law setting a minimum price
that a case of beer can sell for.
STUPID ANTI-FREE ENTERPRISE LAW!

I think every province has that...don't we?

[bokep]

Both are bad to your health, TOBACCO cause CANCER. ALCOHOL too so

why bother to buy if they are bad to your health

Well if you go outside there's a chance that you might get hit by a stray bullet and die. I think you shouldn't leave your house.

[ZenOps]

Alberta was partially de-regulated a while ago.

Notes:

RCSS liquorstore has PC branded beer $5.49 for a sixpack.

Kokanee $8.99 for an 8-pack.

Don't hoard the Calgary south stores of Kokanee - I can't make it there until 11.

[CozmikDebris]

Taxes should be even higher. You're the ones who get the cancers more than the average person so why not pay for the services you will be demanding when you're sick from lung cancer or liver malfunction. It only makes sense to make the people pay for the services they require after exposing themselves to toxins and being warned not to for years and years.

I see a 12 dollar pack of smokes in the not too distant future. What are they at now?

[halo five]

Wait, wasn't Alberta flush with money and handing out cheques to everyone a little while back? Did the oil sands dry up that quickly?

Also,

Both are bad to your health, TOBACCO cause CANCER. ALCOHOL too so

why bother to buy if they are bad to your health

Seriously, all the motherboards and CostCo garbage we buy on here are pumping so much pollution into the atmosphere you can't honestly be complaining about someone having a beer. Christ.

[Byrns]

Taxes should be even higher. You're the ones who get the cancers more than the average person so why not pay for the services you will be demanding when you're sick from lung cancer or liver malfunction. It only makes sense to make the people pay for the services they require after exposing themselves to toxins and being warned not to for years and years.

I see a 12 dollar pack of smokes in the not too distant future. What are they at now?

Actually since people die sooner they're actually saving us all money. How much money do you think we save if someone lives 10 years less. (Nursing homes, government services, other diseases they may get, etc.)

[slowtyper]

Actually since people die sooner they're actually saving us all money. How much money do you think we save if someone lives 10 years less. (Nursing homes, government services, other diseases they may get, etc.)

The amount of money spent in healthcare probably outweighs that.

[smithfan]

Taxes should be even higher. You're the ones who get the cancers more than the average person so why not pay for the services you will be demanding when you're sick from lung cancer or liver malfunction. It only makes sense to make the people pay for the services they require after exposing themselves to toxins and being warned not to for years and years.

I see a 12 dollar pack of smokes in the not too distant future. What are they at now?

The problem with jacking up the tax on smokes\booze too much is that people just stop buying them at the store and get them on the grey market and the government makes nothing off it & instead it all goes to organized crime. Damned if you do damned if you don't.

[BornRuff]

Actually since people die sooner they're actually saving us all money. How much money do you think we save if someone lives 10 years less. (Nursing homes, government services, other diseases they may get, etc.)

Overall, people being less healthy is a bad thing for our economy.

It's not just people dieing, if people are sick, they miss work, become less productive, and use more health care services. The loss of productivity is in many cases the largest cost to our government.

About dieing young of something like cancer of liver failure vs. dieing of old age, it is very hard to make the call on what costs more because it is very dependent on each case. The older person may need a large amount of care, but it is fairly standardized care and lower cost care overall. People who get cancer when they are say, 45, will receive very expensive and specialized treatment. You have to factor in that the older person was able to pay taxes for much longer.

I think if you compare the total cost of someone dieing young from cancer(a few years of expensive specialized medical care and loss of the income they would have generated over the rest of their life), I would guess it would be less than providing medical care for a healthy adult until they are 80. I would need to find some more research on this though.

[ZenOps]

To put things into perspective Obama has pledged to lift a 47 year trade ban on Cuba.

Cuba has two main exports - Cigars and Rum. The price of a black market Cuban cigar (Montecristo - yummy) will probably drop to 1/3rd the current price in the US.

I think Stelmach has got this idea ass backward - in a time of economic woe - you do not place extra taxes on the working mans luxury - beer. If anything - you make it more available.

Protectionist pricing schemes are not good for the overall economy. Sure it might help locally a tiny tiny bit in healthcare and minor revenue source - but its the wrong way to go. Would Stelmach really rather have an actual war instead of a price war to keep money flowing?

BTW: RCSS just placed a limit of 3 pallets on the Kokanee, and the manager said that they would probably not be able to get the guy to program their tills until tomorrow, so you may luck out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet#...erican_pallets

I bet they did not factor in the increased smuggling % when they said $180 million per year from beer. If smuggling beer over the border increases 50%, then Alberta will actually be losing alcohol revenue from the new tax and greatly increasing the criminal element. Smugglers are probably waiting to kiss Stelmach on the lips right now.

Who is giving advice to the government nowadays? Rob Anders, rofl?