The children be darned! Tobacco taxes.

[Catty1]

Ironically...any 'laws' to prevent or stop smoking will only result in defiance in many smokers themselves (addicts are notorious for being defiant!) - and I suspect many will still smoke in defiance, to maintain individuality.

Unfortunately, that's like fighting for freedom by banging yourself on the head with a hammer...it will only hurt you.

At the other extreme - if NO one smoked (very hypothetical situation) then other ways of establishing individual freedom would have to be found.

I wonder if the smoking issue and laws could be a whole red herring here...

[Twisterdog]

I've never heard of the no-smoking-in-your-car rule. I would have NOT been happy about that when I smoked, because I always smoked in my car. However, not with my child in the car with me!

As far as the injustice of telling us what we can and cannot do in our own cars ... what's the difference in a no-smoking in the car law and a seat belt law? Or a motorcycle helmet law? Or a child car-seat law?

I would guess that the money saved from not buying cigarettes is going to FAR outweigh ANY increase in taxes, hands down. Even before this latest tax increase, I was spending about $160 per month on cigarettes. That's a lot of money!