VOA慢速英語：紐約市想要提高煙草稅勸阻人們吸煙

New York City Wants Higher Cigarette Taxes

紐約市想要提高煙草稅勸阻人們吸煙

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to raise taxes on cigarettes to persuade people to stop smoking.

紐約市市長比爾·德布拉西奧(Bill de Blasio)希望提高香煙稅，以勸導(dǎo)人們戒煙。

He would raise the current $10.50 minimum price for a pack of cigarettes to $13 in New York City.

他會把紐約市單包香煙的最低售價從目前的10.5美元提高到了13美元。

De Blasio said the goal of making New York the most expensive city in America to buy cigarettes is to reduce tobacco use. If people have to pay more, he said, they might decide to stop smoking, or, even better, never start.

德布拉西奧表示，讓紐約成為全美購買香煙最貴城市的目的是減少吸煙。他說，如果人們需要支付更高價格，他們可能會決定戒煙，或是就不要開始吸煙。

Anti-smoking proposal

禁煙提案

The mayor is pushing a number of bills. In addition to raising taxes on cigarettes, his bills would limit the number of places selling tobacco products in New York.

這位市長正在推動一些議案。除了提高香煙稅，他的議案還將限制紐約銷售煙草制品的渠道數(shù)量。

Under one proposal, the city would bar drug stores, also known as pharmacies, from selling cigarettes.

根據(jù)一項提案，該市將會禁止藥店出售香煙。

Dr. Mary Bassett is New York City's commissioner of health.

瑪麗·巴塞特(Mary Bassett)博士是紐約市的衛(wèi)生專員。

She said, "As a former smoker, I know how hard it is to quit. These bills will make it less likely that New Yorkers will start smoking and easier for New Yorkers who smoke to quit."

她說，“作為一位前煙民，我知道戒煙有多難。這些議案會讓紐約人降低開始吸煙的可能性，并且讓紐約煙民戒煙更容易。”

New York is America's largest city, with over 8.5 million residents. The city's Health Department says the percentage of New Yorkers who smoke has dropped from 21.5 percent in 2002 to 14.3 percent in 2005.

紐約是美國最大的城市，擁有超過850萬人口。該市的衛(wèi)生部門表示，紐約煙民比例已經(jīng)從2002年21.5%下降到2005年的14.3%。

But that still leaves 900,000 smokers in the city. An estimated 15,000 of the city's smokers are under age 18.

但是該市仍然有90萬煙民。據(jù)估計該市有1.5萬煙民的年齡不到18歲。

The idea behind the mayor's proposal is that people will stop smoking if the cost is too high.

這位市長提出的議案背后的想法是，如果成本太高人們就會戒煙。

Opponents said many people will continue to smoke and that some will be pushed more into poverty or find places to get illegal cigarettes free of taxes.

反對者表示，很多人會繼續(xù)吸煙，有些人將會更加貧困或是尋找購買未繳稅的非法香煙的渠道。

"Over time, it's proven again and again that these efforts are ultimately ineffective as people, minors included, turn more and more to the bootleggers," said Audrey Silk. She is founder of NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment.

紐約市反吸煙騷擾公民游說組織的創(chuàng)始人奧黛麗·西爾克(Audrey Silk)表示，“久而久之會一再證明，這些措施最終都是無效的，因為包括未成年人在內(nèi)的人們會越來越多地轉(zhuǎn)向香煙走私分子。”

But de Blasio said government has a moral responsibility to discourage people from smoking. He said that higher prices have been shown to stop people from smoking.

但是德布拉西奧表示，政府有勸阻人們吸煙的道德責(zé)任。他說，提高價格已證實能阻止人們吸煙。

"When it comes to New Yorker's health, big tobacco is pubic enemy #1," de Blasio said.

德布拉西奧說：“對紐約人的健康來說，煙草巨頭是頭號公敵。”

Smoking around the world

世界各地的吸煙情況

The World Health Organization says there is no doubt that smoking cigarettes is harmful.

世界衛(wèi)生組織表示，吸煙有害，這毋庸置疑。

"Tobacco is the only legal drug that kills many of its users when used exactly as intended by manufacturers," the WHO said in a report. It says smoking is responsible for about 6 million deaths a year across the world.

世衛(wèi)組織在一份報告中表示，“香煙是唯一一種完全按照制造者意圖使用卻會殺死很多吸食者的合法藥物。”該組織表示，吸煙每年造成世界各地大約6百萬人死亡。

Globally, the WHO says there are 1.1 billion tobacco smokers aged 15 or older. About 226 million smokers live in poverty, it said.

世衛(wèi)組織表示，全球有11億年齡在15歲以上的煙民，大約2.26億煙民生活在貧困當(dāng)中。

Smoking rates and taxes differ across the world.

世界各地的吸煙率和稅率各不相同。

The countries with the highest percentage of smokers are Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia and Slovenia, the Tobacco Atlas reports.

《煙草版圖》報告稱，煙民比例最高的國家是塞爾維亞、保加利亞、希臘、俄羅斯和斯洛維尼亞。

But the countries with most cigarettes smoked are China, Russia, the United States, Indonesia and Japan, the Tobacco Atlas said.

但是煙民數(shù)量最多的國家是中國、俄羅斯、美國、印尼和日本。

The Chinese smoke more cigarettes than all other low- and middle-income countries combined, the Tobacco Atlas says.

中國人吸食的香煙數(shù)量比所有其它中低收入國家加到一塊都要多。

The atlas is put out by officials from the American Cancer Association and World Lung Foundation.

《煙草版圖》是由美國癌癥協(xié)會和世界肺癌基金會官員共同發(fā)布的。

Numbeo.com is a website that tracks the cost of living around the world. The site reports that the most expensive countries to buy cigarettes are: Australia, $18.77 per pack; followed by New Zealand, $16.19; Bermuda, $12.24; Norway, $12.23; and Iceland, $11.81.

Numbeo.com是一家跟蹤世界各地生活成本的網(wǎng)站。該網(wǎng)站報告說，購買香煙最貴的國家是澳大利亞，每包18.77美元，其次是新西蘭，16.19美元;百慕大，12.24美元;挪威，12.23美元以及，冰島，11.81美元。

In 2016, voters in two American states -- California and Colorado -- voted on separate proposals to raises taxes on cigarettes. Voters in California approved a $2 tax increase per pack of cigarettes. But voters in Colorado rejected a $1.75 tax increase.

2016年，美國加州和科羅拉多州選民就一項提高香煙稅的單獨議案進行了投票。加州選民批準(zhǔn)每包香煙加稅2美元，但是科羅拉多州選民否決了每包香煙加稅1.75美元。

The New York City Council will now decide whether to approve or reject the anti-smoking measures offered by Mayor de Blasio.

紐約市議會將決定批準(zhǔn)或否決德布拉西奧市長提出的這些禁煙措施。

I'm Bruce Alpert.

布魯斯·阿爾珀特報道。