Cigarettes Target Of Smash-And-Grab Theft/Pittsburg

Yahoo News ^ | 16 July 2002

[SheLion]

A reported smash-and-grab robbery targeting cigarettes was reported Tuesday.

WTAE reported that, at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, a rock was thrown through the glass door of Bell's Mini-Mart, along Fifth and Liberty avenues, Downtown.

The suspects reportedly stole at least 40 packs of cigarettes.

Police eventually caught up with two men in possession of 19 packs of cigarettes in plastic bags.

One suspect is charged with burglary and both are charged with receiving stolen property.

A 69-cents-per-pack tax hike took effect July 15.

In an attempt to make up for a $1.3 billion budget deficit and also to combat teen smoking, Pennsylvania began imposing one of the largest cigarette tax increases in the country. It pushed the tax to about $1 per pack of cigarettes and the cost of a pack to about $5.

[SheLion]

It's starting already.

[SheLion]

..

[Don Corleone]

Shades of "Prohibition". Enjoy the fun brought to you by the friendly folks at your local/state/federal government. Can the return of "Scarface Al" be far away?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

$5 for a pack of cigarettes. Anyone who would pay that DESERVES to die of cancer.

[Bahbah]

"It's starting already."
Yes, it is.

[Dakmar]

Hey, what's a little violent crime here and there? Remember, we're doing this for the chirren.

[SheLion]

Yep!

[M. Thatcher]

A pack in New York City costs $7.

[Wolfie]

Tsk, tsk...all this tobacco-related crime.

[Phantom Lord]

In Canada, when they raised their tobacco taxes through the roof a lot of drug dealers stopped selling drugs and started smuggling cigarettes.

When asked why they switched they all responded, 'the money is just as good and the penalties far less if caught'.

[Dakmar]

F****n junkies! :-)

[BrooklynGOP]

$5 for a pack of cigarettes. Anyone who would pay that DESERVES to die of cancer.

$7 + in NYC.

[Gabz]

Lovely attitude.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Lovely attitude.

Mr. Darwin needs to take care of people who are that stoopid.

[SheLion]

$5 for a pack of cigarettes. Anyone who would pay that DESERVES to die of cancer.

ah common, E. Pluribus Unum! We don't pay those taxes. We buy from the Net, the Reservations or we roll our own.

Anyone who still pays into the state coffers has got to be NUTS.

[jonascord]

Spoken like a true Health Nazi. C. Everett Koop would be SO proud...

[Gabz]

Like I said - lovely attitude.

[RicocheT]

Don't be so hard on those who choose to smoke. As long as they do it in their homes, outside the office building on the sidewalk or in the smoking section of a restaurant, they don't bother me. I quit 25 years ago and gained the usual 20 pounds which will probably kill me just as quick as the cigs I gave up.

Freedom is about the individual having choices. Some are bad, but that's their problem, not one for the rest of us. The peer pressure I'd like to see is like in the old days a neighbor would yell at a kid who was misbehaving or the lady next door would keep an eye on your place while you were on vacation - the things that make a community a better place. As far as your personal life, they kept out of it.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Spoken like a true Health Nazi. C. Everett Koop would be SO proud...

No, an anti-tax Nazi. Anyone who voluntarily pays outrageous taxes like this deserves to die of cancer. They are just taking up space that people with brains could use.

[SheLion]

C. Everett Koop would be SO proud...

Koop went bankrupt. And when it came time for Koop and David Kiesler (sp) to swear under oath all that they had said about tobacco being the KILLER, they backed off. Couldn't "swear under oath."

Isn't that nice. All those years they beat on the smokers, then when it came time to put up or shut up, they SHUT up.