I Would Quit

Government is in deep doo doo, and the mid-term elections will prove it. Voters are upset and probably should be. State and city governments are cutting services 'way past the bone, virtually eliminating anything that remotely seems like it might help children or families or the poor and desperate. Class sizes are huge and getting bigger, and government offices are shutting down with regularity to save money. Meanwhile, the government keeps spending...mostly because it has to, I suspect. However, there have been some novel approaches to raising money.
California, at least for a while, experimented with legalized marijuana. I think that experiment has gone by the wayside at this point, but in a state with more bills than a flock of geese, it was worth a try. Now New York seems to be getting into creative mode.
The state has decided to add additional taxes on tobacco products, adding $1.60 to each pack of cigarettes purchased. This brings the price to a heft $9.20 per pack...and in New York City, the price is an exorbitant $11 per! WowW At two packs a day, that comes to...a heck of a lot! Smokeless users don't get off, either. The tax on that product will double to $2 per ounce. That's a lot just to get an extra hole in one's face.
Cigar smokers will see the tax on their product go up 75% (it's now at 46%). And, in what's sure to cause an uprising of sorts, the state will also try to get this tax from sales on Indian reservations, typically not subject to tax as a separate government. According to one native official, this amounts to "an act of war." Ouch.
The reason for this? State coffers are expected to fill to the tune of $440 million to be used for health care, cancer research and other social programs, including smoking cessation programs.
Seems to me that they'd be killing the golden goose with the last one, but, they'll have enough to worry about after angering the Native Americans.
Times are tough all over, and taxing addicts might be a great solution after all.