Uhhggg Tobacco Tax

[Peppergirl]

I actually worked in my office yesterday (I've gotten spoiled working at home) and a co-worker shielded me from an irate customer who was demanding to speak with me so I wanted to repay him. He's a smoker, so being the bad influence I am, I decided a pack of smokes was in order. He was out.

I walked next door to the speedway, and a pack of marb lights box rang up at 6.29 when it swiped, but then 1.19 was discounted at the end, costing me 5.10 for the pack.

It was odd, but I didn't question it. I wonder if certain stores are trying to ease people in by discounting the pack signifigantly?

[Evil Queen]

yet

I'm sure Perry will get a bug up his butt soon enough, though.

Screw Perry in the ear. I'm moving to New Mexico at the end of the month.

[PepperElf]

It was odd, but I didn't question it. I wonder if certain stores are trying to ease people in by discounting the pack signifigantly?

I wouldn't be surprised. And as long as the government gets the full tax from the product, it won't care. And the store might turn a slightly lower profit, but... they'll most likely get increased sales once the word gets out, so they'll end up with more $ in the long run I suspect.

[Digitalpotato]

It's really annoying when people think you actually have a say in how much tax there is. I mean it's not something YOU can control.

[Primer]

I don't think caffeine is cheap . Sure, a case of bottled water and a case of Mountain Dew are pretty neck and neck, but it costs a heck of a lot for caffeine for me. Those little frappuccinos from Starbucks at the store are $6 for 4 of them.

To paraphrase: I don't think your addiction is what you think it is.
If it were just caffeine, Wally World sells cheap caffeine tablets (200 mg, 100 tabs, for about $3) in the pharmacy section.

[PepperElf]

yeah but those dont taste good

a hot cup of coffee is nice going down

[Broomjockey]

yeah but those dont taste good

a hot cup of coffee is nice going down

but if it was an addiction, and just caffeine, then taste wouldn't matter. Heck, even a plain cup of coffee would do. Anything from starbucks hardly qualifies.

[zzapp the witch]

For those worried about chemically altered sugars, take a look at something called Xylitol. As I understand it, its sugar from the birch? tree. No impact on your system, doesn't spike your insulin, totally safe for diabetics AND tastes TWICE as sweet as regular sugar.


(I love it).

[Rapscallion]

It was initially developed from birch bark, but if memory serves it's mostly made from maize these days.

Rapscallion

[PepperElf]

i like starbucks breakfast blend myself

now for good coffee... i'd rather go to tim hortons but.. the one here isn't a real tim's
sure it's got the name but... it's just a bunch of coffee machines, so it's not as nice as a full tim's.

starbucks is ok tho, closer actually. there's also a dd but... eh. it's ok.

[Bliss]

Btw there's also Stevia, which might be harder to come by in the US but I'm not sure. It's made from a plant... though I do not know for sure how processed it is, Raps might know.

[Nelsonette]

I have never been able to drink diet drinks, every time I try (different brands/sodas etc) I end up getting this horrific migraine. I talked o omy doc about it, and he said it might have something to do with my hypoglycemia, but he never explained how it would be connected, so I have no idea.

I drink about two sodas a day, usually Pibb. Other than that, I'm more of a water or milk person.

And no smoking here, so no wasting money on that particular coffin nail.

[ebonyknight]

For those worried about chemically altered sugars, take a look at something called Xylitol. As I understand it, its sugar from the birch? tree. No impact on your system, doesn't spike your insulin, totally safe for diabetics AND tastes TWICE as sweet as regular sugar.


(I love it).

But it can have a laxative effect if you consume a lot of it.

[Rapscallion]

Btw there's also Stevia, which might be harder to come by in the US but I'm not sure. It's made from a plant... though I do not know for sure how processed it is, Raps might know.

It's about as processed as anything else, I guess. I had someone tell me that sugar wasn't a natural product the other week, though it was as natural as the fruit that had been crushed for the frozen drink she wanted.

To produce rebaudioside A commercially, stevia plants are dried and subjected to a water extraction process. This crude extract contains about 50% rebaudioside A and is refined using natural crystallization and separation technologies to separate the various glycoside molecules in the extract. This allows the manufacturer to isolate pure rebaudioside A. [34]
The National Research Council of Canada has patented a process for extracting sweet compounds from Stevia by column extraction at temperatures from 0-25°C , followed by purification by nanofiltration. A microfiltration pretreatment step used to clarify the extract. Purification is by ultrafiltration followed by nanofiltration. [35]

Compare and contrast to common sugar from cane...

[quote=Wikipedia again]Since the 6th century BC cane sugar producers have crushed the harvested vegetable material from sugarcane in order to collect and filter the juice. They then treat the liquid (often with lime (calcium oxide)) to remove impurities and then neutralize it. Boiling the juice then allows the sediment to settle to the bottom for dredging out, while the scum rises to the surface for skimming off. In cooling, the liquid crystallizes, usually in the process of stirring, to produce sugar crystals. Centrifuges usually remove the uncrystallized syrup. The producers can then either sell the resultant sugar, as is, for use; or process it further to produce lighter grades. This processing may take place in another factory in another country.[QUOTE]

Seems not too much different in scale, really.

However, Stevia does get asked about at work, but we can't sell it. It needs to undergo 'novel food testing' - stuff that isn't defined as eaten in the EU on a regular basis needs this testing before being allowed on our shelves.

http://www.acnfp.gov.uk/meetings/meetings/44m/minutes for one mention of it having been rejected over here. http://www.acnfp.gov.uk/assess/applists/fullapplist/ for why.

http://www.food.gov.uk/search?p=Q&ma...ts=v2&w=stevia for more links - the one at the bottom is most pertinent and latest, I think.

Rapscallion

[Dreamstalker]

For those worried about chemically altered sugars, take a look at something called Xylitol.

I use agave syrup. A bottle of that stuff is more $ than a box/bag of sugar, but it is also twice as sweet and diabetic-safe (low glycemic index I think it's called?).