"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

Peter Gottlieb wrote:

It's almost better to just let it run its course and get so horrifically bad
faster, so it affects more of the public sooner, and some brave leader
stands up and asks why we are hurting ourselves like this.

That strategy didn't work very well for the "war on drugs" insanity.

George Patterson
Brute force has an elegance all its own.



I think they've given up on the drug war thing as a losing battle as
appears to be chronic alcoholism and so the new culprit i which to go to
war is .... tobacco products. Now before any nasties drift in from
smokers [ciggs, pipes [*albeit 'sans' the rubber band and tin foil with
the pin holes on the bowl thing...;-)...] or cigars] , I'm still a
smoker as carried over from my former military days many moons ago [no
lectures please!] but our governor is going literally ballistic about
the thing.

An ex-smoker himself [the worst kind! Their standard motto: "I did it so
you MUST do it!"...] and notwithstanding his ongoing jihad of sorts with
the Native American sovereign nation and internet tobacco product
vendors [the gov wants his cut!], he pulled a sort of analogous Mayor
Daley II King of the Universe move and issued an Executive Order
forbidding national motor carriers [UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.] from
delivering tobacco products within the state of NY at the risk of a
$5,000 fine per occurrence although his authority does NOT extend to the
federal post office.

So too, a law was passed just weeks ago that forbids smoking in any NY
bar --or-- restaurant whether they have separate smoker rooms or
facilities or not! Whew! Suddenly, the smoker [including pipes and
cigars] folks are akin to social pariahs, crack-heads and heroin addicts
on a par with Charlie Manson and Osama bin Laden! I've never seen
anything like it YET the gov' is literally gagging on his "Well, I'm
greatly concerned about 13 year old Johnny and Janey ordering and using
tobacco products" while he concurrently desires big time that tobacco
tax and surcharge [upon surcharge upon surcharge] revenue! Who is
kidding who...or is that 'whom'....


Doc Tony