When they introduced Prohibition in the USA they did so for moral reasons. And only then for medical reasons. But it ended up with gangsters and poor quality whiskey. Now let’s try again with cigarettes: 5 euro supertax. the mafias are already thanking you
It always starts with the best good intentions.
In the United States of America from 1920 to 1933 it was forbidden to produce, sell and transport alcoholic beverages. Moral reasons before health or public order: Protestant preachers they had been urging it for decades.
Then the businesses started: drunken workers made less money and caused damage. The issue ended up in the Constitution and the 18th Amendment was introduced: no drinking.
(Photo: IchnusaPapers)The drunkards did not decrease, on the other hand clandestine distilleries and smuggling grew. Even more deaths due to lead: not that contained in whiskey but in bullets gangster who shot each other to control traffic. In ’33 they got the matter out of the way by repealing the prohibition.
In Italy the possibility of introducing is being discussed a “purpose fee” on cigarettes in the next maneuver that the Government is developing: 5 euros more on every package to finance National Healthcare. The Italian Association of Medical Oncology suggests it and the vice president of the Senate is evaluating it.
It is calculated that by putting 5 euros more on each package, approximately 14 billion euros would enter the state coffers.
As oncologists they will also be superlatives: but two pages of History and one of Sociology are worth leafing through every now and then. Ndrangheta and Camorra, if they could, would sign for yes: their colossal empire started from smuggled cigarettes international economy.
Without prejudice to good intentions.
