Reply #22: It's for RENTERS...

[SoCalDem]

so tough luck to the poor folks who still smoke..

I can see a landlord charging an extra deposit for cleaning/painting when they move out, but this is going to make it even harder for people to find housing if they happen to partake in the still-legal and heavily government-subsidized activity :(

Our government is very schizophrenic about this whole activity too.. They want us smokers to hang around so they can tax our particular "vice" to pay for everything under the sun, they legislate everything about us, and still refuse to ban the damned stuff, because they have to hand out all that subsidy money to their tobacco-grower cronies & contributors..

They are afraid to declare it illegal, because we all know how well that works, and they want the money, and yet they know it's a dangerous product..

and at the same time, if we ever all DID quit, how on earth would they fund children's' health care & education ?

We are little more to them than a convenient nuisance who they can tax and tax somemore..with impunity

As a smoker, I really do not mind all that much about paying the taxes, but i would like to see the OTHER "vices" taking hits as well.. like the boozers, whose car accidents & family violence are costing us all, and the donut-eaters/pizza-hounds/twinkie-soda pop-dorito fiends, whose clogged arteries are costing us a pretty penny too :)