NYT to NYPD: 1. Don’t violate the Constitution. 2. Don’t kill unarmed people. 3. Do your jobs.

[JDPriestly]

62. But is the risk that is taken in buying cigarettes in Missouri, importing and transporting them to

NYC and selling them on a sort of black market worth it?

New York is right to enforce its tax laws and its laws that discourage smoking. Smoking kills. I can see it among my friends. Those who smoked have died about 10-15 years younger than those of us who did not smoke. I have a couple of friends over 70 who smoked, but not many.

And the state government has to pick up the tab for the high costs of health care for people with emphysema and lung cancer and other disease related to smoking. That's something that NYC and New York State recognize. Other states may have money to throw away on smokers' bad health, but states like New York and California would rather spend that money helping people be healthier, helping people live good, healthy lives rather than spending it on keeping people dying from their cigarette habits on life support.

Missouri is foolish to have such low taxes on cigarettes. If you life long enough to watch your smoking friends die, you will appreciate what I am saying.