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I am so sick of the nanny state trying to control peoples behavior. Everybody in the world understands that cigarettes are bad for you, says so right on the pack. But we supposedly live in a "free" country and have the freedom to do as we please, regardless of how good or bad it is for us. IMO the government is just their to warn us of the dangers of our actions and then provide the freedom to do it anyways. That's what true freedom is all about, supporting the freedoms of those you disagree with.
Smoking is no worse for you than eating fast food all the time and being overweight, but for some reason smoking is stigmatized while being fat and unhealthy is "acceptable". It's all about what "society" says is acceptable or not, and I put NO stock into the ever changing whims of public opinion. Also, there's absolutely NO conclusive scientific evidence that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer or anything else. I'd be much more worried about the hundreds of cars and trucks driving by spewing toxic fumes into the air before I'd worry about some guy standing outside smoking a cigarette. Guess some people are just stupid.
Also, as lots of others have pointed out, this will just drive people to buy black market untaxed cigarettes or drive to another state with lower taxes. Or the people who don't care will just continue to buy them in NYC. This is nothing but a hollow victory for you "everybody MUST hate smokers and quit now" crowd.
Agreed. But... they are going after the overweight. They announced 3 or 4 yrs ago that they would use the exact same tactics they used to get cigarettes out of the way because it was so effective. (It wasn't gov't that announced it. It was some group of do good profs that know what's best for us)
They started with the oreos quite some time ago, remember? The big gulp drinks? They want higher taxes on junk food. Those fitbits and exercise bands a lot of people wear?..... They are data mining your personal info. Insurance companies want that info. So.. it's just a matter of time before that's fully in effect also.
We already have the thought police passing laws against using certain words (legitimate words) because someone somewhere might be offended.
I quit cold turkey a while back, and couldn't be happier...but when I did smoke, I would actually hop on a PATH train at 34th St in NYC and take it a few stops to Jersey City where cigarettes were half the price. Since I worked near the station, it was barely a hassle to go and buy a a couple cartons for the month. Many people I know continue to go to Jersey for cigarettes. Some even take a monthly drive to Delaware. Its all kinda sad really...
States can pass weird taxes if they like, and state residents can move to a less oppressive state if they object. I find Federal level "sin tax" much more objectionable, if only because it's harder to change jurisdictions to get away from.
Quote:
Originally Posted by writerwife
We already have the thought police passing laws against using certain words (legitimate words) because someone somewhere might be offended.
States can pass weird taxes if they like, and state residents can move to a less oppressive state if they object. I find Federal level "sin tax" much more objectionable, if only because it's harder to change jurisdictions to get away from.
You don't need to cross a bridge to get to the next city or out of NYC proper from many parts of NYC. Example, I'm currently 3 miles from the Westchester County border and cigarettes are $5 or more less per pack. Many people will go weekly or monthly and buy them by the carton.
Thanks for the education c h , I didn't think of counties, I'm au fait with the five boroughs, but I replied to the poster who said that he'd just go to another city for smokes.
When I think of cities in N.Y., I think of Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Binghamton etc., so knowing that Fort Lee N.J. was just across the Hudson, I used that as an example, as I figured that was closest to Manhattan.
Yet I have friends in Malverne, Nassau County, and Lindenhurst, Suffolk County.
I don't understand this schizophrenic mentality the government has toward smokers. They want people to smoke, but they also want us not to smoke. If the government doesn't want us to smoke (and they apparently do, obviously) they need to make smoking illegal. Otherwise, taxing cigarettes to $15 or $20 a pack is just punitive and wrong. Sure, smoking is a horrible habit and it is very unhealthy. So the government should ban it, not just continue to tax cigs higher and higher, especially since smoking is addictive.
I don't understand this schizophrenic mentality the government has toward smokers. They want people to smoke, but they also want us not to smoke. If the government doesn't want us to smoke (and they apparently do, obviously) they need to make smoking illegal. Otherwise, taxing cigarettes to $15 or $20 a pack is just punitive and wrong. Sure, smoking is a horrible habit and it is very unhealthy. So the government should ban it, not just continue to tax cigs higher and higher, especially since smoking is addictive.
I don't understand it either. Nobody presses our government to increase the taxes on alcohol. Maybe that's because they like their booze? Hypocrites abound.
I quit cold-turkey in 1979, not for health reasons but because I got tired of paying for them, and they were around $1 to $1.50/pk back then.
I hear ya. I quit when they hit .50 a pack, forget the year, but glad I did.
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passing laws against using certain words??
