Posted on 08/10/2008 8:15:52 PM PDT by ricks_place
Politicians in Annapolis are scratching their heads wondering what happened to all those chain smokers who were supposed to help balance Maryland's budget. Last year the legislature doubled the cigarette tax to $2 a pack to pay for expanded health-care coverage. Eight months later, cigarette sales have plunged 25% and the state is in fiscal distress again.
A few pols are pretending to be happy that 30 million fewer cigarette packs have been bought in the state so far this year. As House Majority Leader Kumar Barve put it, fewer people smoking is "a good thing." Yes, except that Maryland may be losing retail sales more than smokers. Residents of Maryland's Washington suburbs can shop in nearby Virginia, where the tax is only 30 cents a pack, and save at least $15 per carton.
The Maryland pols are so afraid this is true that they've made it a crime for residents to carry two packs of cigarettes that weren't purchased in the state. In other words, the state says it's legal to smoke, so long as you use cigarettes that the government can tax and thus become a financial partner in your bad habit. But if you dare to buy smokes across state lines, you can be fined.
Maryland is only the latest state to prove the folly of trying to finance government with a tax on a shrinking pool of smokers. In New York City and State, tobacco taxes have been raised so many times that the retail cost can exceed $9 a pack -- about double the national average. Few budget-savvy smokers in the Big Apple pay that tax...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Every once in a while, one gets really nostalgically wistful for an ashtray and a smoke in a bar, niteclub, lounge or entertainment establishment.
It’s often replaced by anger when one realizes that some MiddleEasterners have managed to get exceptions for their hookah/sheesha clubs in the name of sociocultural concerns.
But we won’t make exceptions for those ohsomany Americans whose sociocultural desires have been defecated on by the American Talibs.
Inshallah, Brother Blair. (Marry a fag, Don’t smoke one)
>>politically docile people
Even Hitler didn’t dare ban smoking and tobacco.
We however are rather willing Hitlerians.
What will they do when people stop speeding? Lower speed limits? LOL
“Chantix is a very dangerous drug.”
It sure is. I know two otherwise mentally healthy people hospitalized for acute psychotic reactions caused by this drug.
I took it for two days. I went into the darkest, deepest pit of despair and depression I have EVER experienced.
Fortunately I recognized what was causing it and quit taking it. I was just fine in a day or two.
I had high hopes that it would live up to its claims, but now realize that this drug was released without nearly enough testing.
The electric machine works essentially like the hand crank one, you still have to fill the chamber the same way.
Then you press a button to fill the tube, and it takes forever for the thing to s-l-o-w-l-y perform that operation.
In fact, there was a couple there at the time returning their electric machine because they hated it.
Try changing tobacco types. I had the same problem until I went to a coarser cut. The coarser tobacco is not nearly as sensitive to over or under filling.
I tend to agree, if they stopped with the overt brainwashing, and Big Brother tactics, one of two things would happen..
1) those that ENJOY smoking would continue to smoke (and obviously the anti smoking control freaks would not like this)
2) those that really want to quit, would do so, instead of being “forced” to quit because they cant smoke anywhere or ciggs cost too much for them. Everybody knows if you are forced to do something.. it never really goes well.
Quite frankly, I like to smoke.. I enjoy it. I refuse to let ANY control freak tax me out of it, or tell me how to live my life.
If they eased up on the big brother garbage.. who knows.. perhaps people that really want to quit would quit for good, and there would be a whole lot less miserable people.
Yup.. I would rather catch every disease known to man than EVER take Chantrix, I had a friend of mine end up trying to kill himself after being on it one week.
Once again the big pharma thinks it knows whats right for us.. and once again, they put out a dangerous drug.. Chantix.
Always wondered why legislatures haven’t embraced a huge tax on booze. Some might say the lessons of Prohibition prevent such an act. I don’t think so. I just assume there are too many heavy boozers in politics.
Pardon me for butting in (no pun intended) but would you know if the machine they were returning was the Magnum? I hope not. I'm awaiting this one to hit the market largely because the reviewer on this site says it's finally a good electric machine.
Ma'am, I have found no way to NOT make a mess so ProfoundBabe and I make our smokes in the garage near a vacuum cleaner. Like Madame Dufarge says in #60, fill the ends then fill the middle a little lighter. I tamp on the whole chamber with my fingers to get the packing uniform and that's what makes part of the mess. Like most folks, I scrape up what I can, put it back and vacuum up the rest. A little involved perhaps but MUCH cheaper than $35 /carton here in NC.
You can't tax yourself into solvency. Period.
But feel free to keep trying and getting re-elected...
Or keeping your job.
I just watched the video you linked to - that seems like a real fine machine.
There are not fewer people smoking, they are just going somewhere else to buy their tobacco.
The NYS legislation was sponsored by a RINO from Seneca Falls, NY.
I’ve tried to find who else voted for this, but can’t.
I HATE NY. Can’t wait to get the hell out of here.
Regards,
PS: I see bootlegging in the future. The Mob bosses are laughing all the way to the bank.
Speaking of hooka lounges, a bunch of white guys in our neighborhood (on Long Island) have opened up one of these joints...it’s doing well, I think; there are always cars in the parking lots. (It’s only open at night.)
Regards,
I used a newspaper so I could dump the excess back in the can.
Good idea. Thanks, I’ll try that.
Absolutely. My Dr. gave my husband and I a scrip for it. I went on the internet and read about it. There is no way I would put that poison in my body. I read hundreds of posts from people who were taking it. Literally all of them were having side effects, from mild to severe. More severe than mild. My son took a drug to quit smoking that was similar. He did quit for over a year but went back to smoking again. I guess it works while taking it but the urges come back after you stop taking the stuff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.