“I can see the similarities you’re drawing, but where in America is it illegal to possess tobacco, not just illegally dodge taxes on it?”
I actually had New York in mind when I wrote this. Doesn’t the state go to outlandish lengths to collect tobacco taxes online and in other states? California may have its border fruit checks, but New York has what are close to being tobacco customs.
I have to confess ignorance to the extent of that, because I don’t smoke or dip or anything. I have heard of what you’re talking about, how anti-tobacco this state and especially this city is. There are a couple of Indian reservations not too far from the city - the Poospatuck one is I think the closest, but is small: only a few blocks long and a few blocks wide, on Long Island. The other one is bigger: the Shinnecock reservation, close to the Hamptons. There was an uproar about avoiding taxes on cigarettes from those places that made the news, but I haven’t heard much since.