Over 7 billion dollars goes to the feds in tobacco tax every year.

I agree with you JAP69. I hate cigarette & cigar smoke because it gives me a headache and makes me cough. Although I wish every cigarette on Earth would disappear off the planet because I can't even walk by people who are smoking outside of a store, I agree with you that it is excessive. They are trying to get away with it because of the stigma put on cigarette smokers.

Oh, just one more note....did you know that 60% of direct health care costs in the U.S. go to treat tobacco-related illnesses? Yup! Did you also know that health costs and productivity losses are more than $7 for every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States? So besides the cost of healthcare (many victims of cigarette-related illness are on soc sec disability or Medicaid) the litter from billions of cigarettes thrown on the ground that pollute our environment & our water system, and the devastation from cigarette-ignited fires, cigarette smokers really don't cost taxpayers all that much. :-)

Oh, just one more note....did you know that 60% of direct health care costs in the U.S. go to treat tobacco-related illnesses? Yup! Did you also know that health costs and productivity losses are more than $7 for every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States? So besides the cost of healthcare (many victims of cigarette-related illness are on soc sec disability or Medicaid) the litter from billions of cigarettes thrown on the ground that pollute our environment & our water system, and the devastation from cigarette-ignited fires, cigarette smokers really don't cost taxpayers all that much. :-)

I could pretty much say the same thing about other non essential products like alcohol and candy.
So where do we draw the line on who is to consume what.

I've got to kick in here...I quit smoking over ten years ago, but my wife continues to smoke, her choice...

Now, although I agree that smoking is one of the worst things humanity imposes on itself, it should still remain a matter of personal choice. The government has no business whatsoever in trying to impose regulations of any kind on adult smokers. Instead of excess taxation, if smoking is regarded as such a hazard to humanity by the governing body's, why not outlaw tobacco manufacturing altogether? The reason of course is the billions in excess tax that the government receives through tobacco taxation. They don't give a damn about the health concerns of this country, only the amount of excess taxation they can suck out of the citizens of this country.

All I can say is, if we don't pull our heads out of our a$$e'$ and wake up, we're all in for a long rough haul. It's coming people, we better be waking up now...

True, I was agreeing that the tax is probably unfair and targets a certain group of people. I was only explaining why a lot of people won't offer you much sympathy, especially those of us who get sick even smelling smoke in the air. Since your topic here is about taxes, not smoking, I'll shut up, because, to tell ya the truth, I don't care if people want to smoke their brains out, or even (in states that allow it) smoke in restaurants, clubs, etc. as long as it's not in a public place where I have no choice breathing it in (like walking on the sidewalk, the beach)   I just won't patronize the establishments that allow it, just like you might not want to go to the ones that don't. I think that's fair. Still, because I hate cigarette smoke and its effects, I have to admit I'm biased. I agree with LottoVantage's statement that the government doesn't care about our health any more that it really cares about global warming. It's all political hogwash. We're just pawns in a big ....oh, wait. I was going to say chess game, but since Bush is still president, I should change that to we're just checkers on a checkerboard. (Actually, I can picture him saying "king me." )

What are the odds they'd let you grow your own? :-)

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tobacco+grow+your+own&btnG=Google+Search

About a 100% probability that you can grow your own.