Smoker's tax - up $1.00/pack

I'm so glad I quit smoking. An Associated Press article in this morning's Northwest Herald informed me that a new $1.00 tax on a pack of smokes will take effect today.

The tax was already $0.98 per pack; now it's $1.98 per pack.

Ten packs in a carton... tax is $19.80 per carton. And you haven't paid for the cigarettes yet!

Today a pack of Marlboro is $5.59, plus sales tax. A clerk at Walgreens told me she thought the new tax doesn't take effect until tomorrow. So, does that mean $6.59/pack tomorrow, plus sales tax? $65.90 for a carton? Really?

The AP reports that the cigarette tax in Missouri is only $0.17/pack.

What part of "stupid" does Illinois not understand? When you raise the tax, you drive down consumption. When consumption goes down, sales go down. When sales go down, tax goes down.

Did I ever smoke? Sure did.

When did I quit? Age 7. My mom said I was never going to live to see 8, if I didn't quit!

Oh, I might have to re-think my objection to conducting hypnosis sessions for smokers. Let's say I charged $200 for a person to stop smoking; that's three cartons of cigarettes at the new price. Say, maybe 3-4 weeks of smoking for a lot of people.