My Sick Mind

Smokers are digging deeper for the price of a pack of cigarettes today as the largest increase ever in the federal tobacco excise tax goes into effect. The new federal tax is $1.01 per pack, up from 39 cents. The increase means smokers in Pennsylvania will now pay $2.36 in federal and state taxes for a pack of cigarettes. In New Jersey, which is No. 2 in the nation in tobacco taxes, it will be $3.59, and $2.16 in Delaware. But they are nowhere near New York City, where the price for a pack of cigarettes includes $5.26 in federal, state and municipal taxes. That puts the price of a pack of smokes close to $7. I was naïve enough to think people would stop smoking when cigs got to a dollar a pack. That was during the Carter administration, I think. They're still smoking and they're still throwing them out the window of their cars, either because they're inherent slobs or they don't want the car to smell like smoke - which is odd behavior since they obviously care more abo...

Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation Monday making Illinois the latest state to ban smoking in public places — including bars, restaurants and work places. The law goes into effect January 1, 2008. And now, two idiots speak their (alleged) minds: "I feel like it's the Nazi regime coming in here, talking away all of our rights" , said Tim Main, as he cleaned up Mike's Ten-Pin Lounge in Alton. " First they make it so you have to wear seat belts, and now they want to put a stop to smoking. What's next?" Chicago carpenter Rob Nelson saw a chilly future. " It looks like I'll be spending a lot of time outside," he said. Here's an idea: Quit smoking. Oh, that's right, you can't because you're weak and addicted. The alternative is that you won't blow your foul-smelling junk in my face and make my clothes smell like the inside of your lungs when I get home from a night out. What a pleasure it was to go out last Saturday...

I don’t smoke, and I don’t hang around with people who do, but I have to imagine that it’s difficult to be a smoker. Not just the breathing part, which has to be difficult, too, but the social part as well. There is a stigma attached to smoking, and it gets worse every day. It’s a strange thing, the smoking. No nutritional value, no physical benefits of any kind to themselves or the people around them and no societal use – yet it continues. Last summer, our legislators in New Jersey finally got around to passing anti-smoking laws, which ban smoking in public, except on casino floors, where, as we know, smoke isn’t harmful. Slowly, other places are joining us. Last week, a milestone was reached when more than half the states had passed similar laws . In parts of Ohio, you can't even smoke outdoors . Come out smokers, we’ve got you surrounded ! It’s cold here in the Garden State. Cold enough that the smokers have to put on their winter gear. Most of them are bitter about having to go...