In the same article referenced below:
Cigarette sales in New York plummeted almost 50 percent in July after the city raised the tax on each pack from 8 cents to $1.50. The new tax, which Bloomberg pushed to help close a record budget gap, drove the price of some name brands to more than $7 per pack.
I thought the point here was to raise money to cover health care expenses allegedly accruing on the system because of smokers, not to actually stop them from smoking so the revenue wouldn’t be raised. So let’s see, we’re also going to ban smoking in restaurants in NYC…so cigarette sales are going to, hmm, plummet even more, aren’t they?
Oh, wait, I’m beginning to sound like Rush Limbaugh here…
…which may not be a bad thing.