# FILE NAME: 00002300.soc
# TITLE: Should we raise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes? [e29a1673338f702daea29484c3ae51f4]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - In general, the group was in favour of raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. We all agreed that they are harmful to health and cause many health issues, both mental and physical, in society. We also agreed that many people have become addicted to them and have been smoking and drinking since a young age. Raising taxes may help to reduce the amount of young people smoking and drinking, which could prevent them from becoming addicted. We were also in favour of raising taxes because we felt it would be fair to those who do not drink or smoke as they do not suffer the same health problems and should not have to pay the same amount. We felt that the extra taxes should be spent on programmes to help people to stop smoking and drinking. However, we did not think that the taxes should be raised by a huge amount as we thought that this could lead to an increase in black markets and could also mean that people with addictions to alcohol and cigarettes would need more money to purchase them.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - There should be a small increase in the taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. This is because they cost society a lot of money in healthcare and policing. We believe that these extra taxes should be spent on programmes to encourage people to stop smoking and to drink less. We think that this idea could be an issue as there are other things, such as unhealthy food, that also cost the NHS money and taxing these may punish certain groups in society, especially those who live in areas with poor quality food shops. However, we think that the price of alcohol and cigarettes should be raised slightly but not too much. This is because we think that it would put people off buying them. They're both drugs that do damage to the human body so we believe that it should be thought about before you buy them, and making them more expensive would do this. However, we can also see the down-sides to increasing the taxes on them such as people with addictions would need more money to purchase them and in turn could put them in an even worse financial state. It could also cause a rise in underground black markets where they are sold for cheaper, illegally. This would mean that they're not guaranteed to be safe.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - We should raise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. This is because they cost society a lot of money in healthcare and policing. We believe that these extra taxes should be spent on programmes to encourage people to stop smoking and to drink less. We think that this idea could be an issue as there are other things, such as unhealthy food, that also cost the NHS money and taxing these may punish certain groups in society, especially those who live in areas with poor quality food shops. However, we think that the price of alcohol and cigarettes should be raised slightly but not too much. This is because we think that it would put people off buying them. They're both drugs that do damage to the human body so we believe that it should be thought about before you buy them, and making them more expensive would do this. However, we can also see the down-sides to increasing the taxes on them such as people with addictions would need more money to purchase them and in turn could put them in an even worse financial state. It could also cause a rise in underground black markets where they are sold for cheaper, illegally. This would mean that they're not guaranteed to be safe.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - In general, we are in favour of raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. We believe that they are harmful substances that cost the NHS a lot of money to treat the health problems caused by them. However, it is important to note that a rise in taxes would need to be carefully considered. We believe that the rise in taxes should be proportionate to the cost of healthcare associated with these substances and should not be so high that it creates an unaffordable barrier to those who need help to quit. The money raised by the tax increase should be used to help people quit and should not be used for any other purpose. We also believe that the rise in taxes should be combined with other methods to help people quit, such as education in schools and advertising campaigns.
1: 2,1,4,3
1: 1,2,3,4
1: 2,3,1,4
1: 1,4,2,3
1: 4,1,2,3