Cigarette taxes

A long time ago some well wishing people got together and decided that it was best for America if no-one was allowed to drink. They imposed their will on the rest of the country and there started the prohibition of alcohol. Of course there were quite a number of people who still wanted to have their alcohol. Since it was no longer legal to openly sell it, there were people who saw a golden opportunity to make some pretty good money by selling it illegaly. Of course this was considered a crime and more police were needed to combat this crime. Because of the police action and competition from other criminals, the 'bad guys' needed to get more organized as well. This led to people as Al Capone and Scarface.

Let's flash forward 80 years and look at what is happening with Cigarettes. We all know that Cigarettes are bad for you. It is easily seen by looking at our families or friends and seeing how many of them have died from its effects. It is common knowledge. Of course groups of well meaning people have banded together and caused legislation to be enacted that has put taxes on cigarettes. I am not a smoker but I can clearly see that this is a bad thing. Regardless of where the taxes are going, they are essentially coming out of the smokers' pockets. I can forsee a time where if these taxes get much higher, the smokers will start to rebel against these taxes and start to seek new sources for their cigarettes. I remember seeing an article in the newspaper a few years back about cigarettes being smuggled into Canada because they could be bought cheaper here. Where is the overall logic in this taxation? Do people realize the trouble overtaxation could create? Why can't we just provide people with all of the medical information about cigarettes and disallow them from suing the cigarette companies over medical problems that they experience. They would have been warned. Problem solved.

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