This is what I drink.

http://www.stlwater.com/bestwater.php

All in all said on the matter, I think this bill is a waste of time and taxpayer money. I don't even want to think about how much money I'm going to be spending to pay the surgeon general to come up with bigger and badder scare tactics to put on a box of cigarettes. Whatever it says, it can't compare to the nicknames that cigarettes have...

cancer sticks
death sticks
...
fags

Personally I hope a new brand emerges in a black box with the jolly rodger on the front and make the whole pack a list off all surgeon general bs in holographic letters.

I'll start smoking 2 packs a day. This product will need a really cool name too, like "Poison Pills" or "Addictive Death"

Man, I wanna smoke, think I'll have one..

<---Not a smoker

Just don't like the idea of the government running the world that's all.

Besides, it's mostly a waste of time and money.

Wrong. Completely wrong. Every year, smokers pay literally billions (that's Biblically, BILLIONS, with a very large capital B) of dollars in taxes....taxes which non-smokers DO NOT pay, yet they reap all the benefits from. Some points have been addressed in this thread that I've said for a very long time already (not that anybody would remember, as nobody ever pays any attention to what I say, anyway). Robin mentioned that one car's exhaust output for one day is more than I can put out with smoking for a year. True. Yet, you don't see anybody in any great hurry to give up their cars. Factories spewing poison into the air from their smokestacks, food additives, the list is endless. Try putting that same 2,153% tax hike on alcohol, or even bottled water, and we'll see what kind of an uproar it causes. The bottom line is, smokers are being singled out and discriminated against. If Congress and the so-called "society watchdogs" achieve their ultimate goal of getting the world to stop smoking (under the guise of "health care", specifically for children), what are they gonna do when the tax money that we pay runs out? Who or what are they gonna tax next? It's obvious the zealots don't need any real reason, all they have to do is spew their beliefs, and the rest of the world is supposed to jump on the bandwagon like good little sheep. I can provide papers written by a doctor, that explain how all that talk about secondhand smoke is all a bunch of hogwash. It wouldn't matter to the zealots. They only have their own personal agenda, and they can't see the forest because of the trees.

Non-smokers, I don't have a problem with. It's the ANTI-smokers that really frost my *** with all their B.S.

Whew, just another law meant to control. Of course for our own good, hmmm, isn't that my decision?

Keith

didn't you know???? even though we are adults...we still have to be told what we do (legally). I hope the set aside an earmark to change our diapers too

I agree that sin taxes do not make logical sense as a form of deterrence if they are used to fund non "sin" related programs. I think any tax money from smoking should be used to offset the costs of smoking related illnesses. I cannot agree with your covert implication that there is no health risk from smoking or second hand smoke. If you have evidence that supports case, post for those interested to review, otherwise no one is going to believe those claims and it will damage the credibility of your arguments.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking .

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents .

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

We made up games with sticks and tennis ***** and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Amen Music! Preach on Brother!

And you wonder why the country is in such a mess.

now why do I expect Gio to pop in and say he misses the 50's

because people smoke
because people eat tuna

I miss 'em too . . . oh wait 76 - 50 . . . never mind.

I'm trying soooooooo hard to be an but you are making it toooooo easy to be a

lead, prenatal alcohol and tobacco poisoning, etc. has effected our ability to effectively run this country. Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess if our parents had more concern for our health as youngins.

But then again maybe it's all your fault Fran.

Mission accomplished

The long and short of it () is that people's rights are slowly being taken from them.

This one may hold repercussions, but it is still a personal choice, I do not take kindly to others making or taking decisions on my behalf, nor for my own good. No one pays for my medical expenses but me.

what a country...lets snuff out ciggs...but...legalize gay marriage...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh for the 50's...

((((Gio)))) were your ears burning?