>>I smoked for a few years - but only like 1 pack a month or so. Then I moved to Hawaii, went to buy a pack of smokes and the lady said $14.25. I was like oooh I just wanted ONE pack not two - she said yeah 1 pack..$14.25. I pushed them back to her and said ummmhummm yeah I just quit. And that was the end of that.
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>Smoking is probably the only area of commerce where I don't care how much the government does to curtail it. Call me a hypocrite since I'm normally pretty libertarian but it is a disgusting habit and I wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep if they outlawed it.
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>A few weeks ago I had a doc appmt and had to take my daughter with me. A man stood outside at the main entrance, smoking like a chimney, coughing pretty hard. When we walked by him, he reeked of smoke. When we got inside, my daughter asked, "Daddy, why is that man smoking if it's making him sick?" I replied, "Because he's an idiot".
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>Later, as we left the doc office, we saw the man walking into the same office. My daughter then asked, "Daddy, is he going to die?" Normally I wouldn't give such a blunt answer to my daughter, but I said, "If he keeps smoking, yes".
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>I can understand and sympathize with physical addiction, but my god, why in the hell someone would spend that kind of money to suck on cancer sticks that are taking your breath away is beyond me. I've gone cold turkey on pretzels and chips and candy after nearly developing food addictions and it's done wonders for me.

I'm pretty much in agreement with you here. I don't think it should be outlawed or anything - HOWEVER I have no problem with an insanely high tax on the smokes. I know that its proven that every time the cost of a pack of smokes goes up that some people quit smoking. Put a $20 tax on every pack sold and see how many people quit (and also watch the politicians do something dumb with the $20).