While if the extra tax money goes to medical care people probably wouldn't care as much, but using higher taxes to force consumers to quit smoking and drinking won't that's right. Not only does the government try to impose a sin tax on tobacco and alcohol, but it also tries to impose additional taxes on foods deemed unhealthy. Families will go without so people can pay higher taxes, and the money from higher taxes doesn't always go to the programs they were supposed to go to. What is the sin tax? “Sin taxes” is a popular term for taxes charged for guilty pleasures or human indulgences, such as smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. Sin taxes can be defined as those public revenues obtained from the purchase or consumption of resources or services that have the following characteristics: 1. Consumption has an inelastic demand curve. The behavior is addictive. That is, a small change in behavior will generate significant tax revenue but will not eliminate the behavior.2. The behavior may be considered self-destructive or harmful to the individual. Sinful behaviors generate immediate or long-term negative personal consequences such as poor health or obesity.3. The behavior generates negative externalities: other people suffer. However, sins are often generally, but not universally, considered socially undesirable. Consumption of the product or service raises concerns or is generally judged to be contrary to socially desirable behavior or dysfunctional in terms of social well-being. Others suffer from the actions of an individual." (Lorenzi, 2004) In other words, if it is officially deemed harmful to us, then a sin tax can be added to it, whether people like it or not. First, use higher taxes to force consumers to q.... ..middle of paper......drink they make the choice to consume these products so why should they be punished by having to pay a higher price? The sin tax has been around as long as anyone can remember and has never ended well, but does that stop the government from enforcing it again and again? No, it's not like that! We all understand that smoking and drinking are bad for us and perhaps, in the future, we may need long-term treatment because by using these products we should also have the option to invest the money in a government fund to help us in the future if necessary. Works Cited Black, P. A. (2006). “Sinful” taxes and poor families: unexpected effects. South African Journal of Economics, 74(1), 131-136. Green, R. (2011). The ethics of sin taxes. Public Health Nursing, 28(1), 68-77.Lorenzi, P. (2004). SIN TAXES. Society, 41(3), 59-65.