cigarettes

This is an interesting story about the success of a program in Wisconsin, where a $1 cigarette tax lead to more people trying to/actually quitting. But, before I get into that, I'd like to share my point of view on tobacco and taxes. I'm for taxes on tobacco as a way of diversifying the family farming industry in North Carolina. I'm also against growing tobacco because it is an immoral crop - a crop that leads to addiction, pain, agony, and finally death. It kills more people than drunk drivers, it kills more people than heroin, it kills more people than Osama bin Laden, it ruins more lives than gambling or fornication or adultery or taking the Lord's name in vain. It is immoral.

The only reason we allow its growth is to make rich, white men richer and because it is the only good, addictive drug that we grow here in the US. As Chris Rock says:

God forbid some brown people got wealthy... We can't have that! Because drugs come from brown countries. We can't have no wealthy brown people!
...
If drugs were legalized, there would be a drug spot in every corner. It wouldn't be a Starbucks. It'd be Weedbucks. McDonald's? McCokeald's. Krispy Kreme? Kracky Kreme.

Chris Rock is probably right, if rich, white men could grow poppy here or could take over a place where it was grown, say Afghanistan, and reap profits while killing off their customers. I'm sure they would.

The DHHS group Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is crowing about the rate of retailers violating the law by selling cigarettes to juveniles being down to a new low. There is an inference here, at least in my reading of it, that this relates to juvenile smoking. That lowering this rate means less teens smoking. In fact, that is exactly how they describe it in their press release.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration today announced that sales of tobacco to underage youth have reached all time lows under the Synar Amendment program – a federal and state partnership program aimed at ending illegal tobacco sales to minors.

Now, I highlighted the Synar Amendment because they make the case that it is responsible for the decrease in retailer violations, which leads to decreased juvenile smoking. Maybe the Synar Amendment had something to do with this, but I'll offer another opinion after the break.