Smoking for the children

[oxcoug]

So after a recent event my company was a part of in NYC our VP of production and I were in a rental car in downtown Manhattan and both were exhausted and needed a cold hydrating beverage so I told him to pull over by a corner store so I cld go grab a couple of Vitamin Waters (of the "Zero" variety, FWIW). As I'm getting out he says "hey - I need to smoke - grab me a pack of American Spirit cigarettes.

(My colleague doesn't smoke now but he's the founder and former manager of the Knitting Factory club in NYC and used to be a heavy smoker and now only lets himself smoke when he's in NYC a few times a year...)

So I go in, grab a couple of exorbitantly priced Vitamin Waters and ask the cashier for a pack of American Spirit cigs.

Price: $14.95.

Apparently the same pack in New Jersey will cost less than half that. [Yes, I'm thinking of starting a, uhhh, business... of the off-the-books variety - that's a nice margin to work with].

So that's apparently about 75% taxes. And it's being used to fund all kinds of civic programs for kids and health awareness programs.

And the question is now being asked among critics of this taxation - isn't smoking now a supreme act of public-mindedness? Should we take it up - you know - for the kids?

[Uncle Ted]

So that's apparently about 75% taxes. And it's being used to fund all kinds of civic programs for kids and health awareness programs.

And the question is now being asked among critics of this taxation - isn't smoking now a supreme act of public-mindedness? Should we take it up - you know - for the kids?

Add buying lottery tickets as well. I don't know about other states but lottery revenues in Texas go to public education. It only contributes something like 2% of the total educational budget but I guess every little bit helps.