Man Pointed Gun at Pregnant Smoker

[HiPointDem]

31. tobacco taxes fund 14% of new hampshire's state budget, 11% of alaska's, 7% of oregon's,

6%+ of RI & Maine's, etc. (2001 figures, likely higher today with the budget crises. Certainly higher in my state, which has added at least 6 rounds of tobacco taxes since 2001).

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:I4YivoHb83IJ:dor.wa.gov/content/aboutus/statisticsandreports/WAtaxstudy/Tobacco%2520_Alcohol_9-13-02.pdf+washington+state+tobacco+taxes+fund+percent+budget&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiae-m1H1aNmrxogF2OqpTlEPbcpBGP2GrXXop03O1oxndqqXt0Fln_TQncZbfOZTvTL5lJ1BsW9LdW4-HVc-db0JtfYeinyh4oL4Nz5xAS5kPGOuxJZulPkNNgCpFoSqi7B2CU&sig=AHIEtbS7a_WC-KdiRE79X32fINszKa9uPQ

Regressive taxes, falling most heavily on the poor. Accepted because of the demonization of smokers. Not to mention higher insurance rates, poorer job prospects (as many workplaces discriminate against smokers), and a general intolerance & denigration in the culture.

I'm sure you have all sorts of research rationalizing & justifying it -- smokers are costing us money, smokers are responsible for the high cost of health care, blah blah --

But that's all it is, blah blah. As the smoking habit moved from the upper classes to the lower, smoking became a targeted behavior, pure & simple.