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On 24 Sep 2006 10:00:51 -0700, kruegerb76{at}hotmail.com wrote:

>I hate cigarettes, too, but what's going on now seems... rather odd to
>me.
>
>There's another bond issue up for a new tax on cigarettes here.  The
>money will go to a good cause, kids in need.  I think it'll add
>something like 60 cents to the price of a pack of ciggies.
>
>Now, I find it interesting that slamming the smokers has gotten to be
>so popular these days.  Quite frankly, when the rules started to be
>enforced about having to be away from the building to smoke, I found I
>didn't mind at all the smokers on campus.  :)
>
>And yes, it's a horrible addiction, yadda, yadda.  But am I the only
>person who finds it a bit... odd that when money is needed the first
>thing people think anymore is "raise taxes on cigarettes"?
>
>I'd rather see them take huge cuts out of the casino business that is
>so lucrative in Arizona.  (For those who don't know: on an Indian
>reservation, they can make their own rules to a certain extent.  So in
>a state that doesn't allow gambling you can have casinos, they just
>have to be located on the reservations.)
>
>And while we're talking sin taxes, why not ask for a tax increase on
>alcohol to pay for the poor kids in need?

There was originally a good reason for the tax increases -- the rate
of teen smoking goes down significantly as the price of cigarettes go
up. Then state governments discovered that they had a new revenue
stream for which they wouldn't be blamed by the voters, and the rest
is history.

To me the real crime here is that they don't make available safer
nicotine delivery systems. There's really no reason why anyone should
die of cancer at this point. But when companies try to make it
available in non-carcinogenic forms, the FDA stops them. Go figure.

-- 
Josh

[Truly] I say to you, [...] angel [...] power will be able to see that [...]
these to whom [...] holy generations [...]. After Jesus said this, he departed.

- The Gospel of Judas
                                    
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