How are we supposed to make up for the loss of tax revenue?
Oh, wait, the perscription drug market! Sorry, lost myself.
Yes.
"Adult Smoking Rate Shows Record Drop"
I haven't contributed to it.
I'm smoking and enjoying every puff from my cig ;-)
Have a nice day
This is good news for people that quit, bad news for those that structure taxes to pay for govt services, and I don't believe the numbers. People are embarrassed to say they smoke, and buy smokes at reservations and on the internet so sales don't show to the state.
Watch out toilet paper users....you'll be targeted next for the lost cigarette tax revenue!!!
Hey, social engineering really works on Californians. As the Philosopher said, "Modern man is being prepared to live a life of slavery in the most exacting sense."
Not really. How is the state going to make up for the billions of dollars smoker's pay into the state with their tax dollars? Someone out there is going to have to dig mighty deep into their pockets. Wonder what group it will be next? Think about it. 
"These kids are growing up in a world where smoking is not appropriate, it's not fashionable," Stevens said. "They know the dangers and they look at people who smoke and say, 'What's wrong with you?' "
What a crock of Barbra Streisand.........only an anti-smoker or bureaucrat believes that.
The danged numbers come from sales of tobacco products - just because folks ain't buyin'em in Cally don't mean they ain't using them........
Idiocy - shear idiocy.
Like most FReepers, I abhor heavy-handed government tactics designed to bring about behavioral changes -- outright smoking bans in bars and restaurants; "sin" taxes (personally, I think the tax rate on Marlboros, Dewar's Scotch, Shell 93 Octane, and skim milk should be the same); and the constant "you're gonna die if you don't quit doing that" barrage are all annoying.
On the other hand, I hate smoking, and do what I can short of rudeness to avoid smokers. Here in the heart of tobacco country, I suspect the percentage of adults who smoke is closer to 20% than to the 15.4% percent being reported in California. Still, non-smokers form a huge majority, and it's growing. So I would hope that stats such as those quoted in this story would help convince more bars and restaurants to voluntarily go smoke-free. Perhaps if enough establishments made that choice (particularly "high end" places, given the strong inverse relationship between smoking and income levels), government prohibitions might be staved off.
"'What's wrong with you?'"
Well to start of with, you little mind encrusted creation of Kalifornia............
California Smokers Use Prohibition Tactics to Get Around Ban
While cops try to sniff out the worst offenders, in many cases they're butting up against organized opposition. Bartender phone trees warn each other of impending busts, powerful fans blow away tell-tale scents of "smokin' in the boys room" and tin cans double as ashtrays in case of an unexpected visit by police.
Got my first box of cigars in ten years yesterday. Guess I'll be a trend breaker.
I'd also add, "EEEEWWW!"
Like all good goobermint and NGO goobers, they pull these numbers out of a place that never sees daylight. And it took them a year to find the right 8,000 people to even juggle the numbers.
Everybody knows that 78.165% of all statistics are fabrications... or is it 78.166%? Where's my call list?
NO, they don't know the dangers. They know what they've been told by anti-smoker organizations, and the government that's in cahoots with them.
And if they want to look at me and ask that question............"I'm crazy as a loon and I've got a BIG knife. What's it to you?"
Funny how when you approach the same people with similar ideas to lower the number of teens engaging in sex, they cry it can't be done.