$10 a Pack

I don't smoke, never have. And since cigarettes have become such a popular funding tool for a variety of government health programs, prices have steadily risen. In New York they're about to hit $10 a pack:

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 (UPI)—The fact that a pack of cigarettes will soon cost more than $10 in New York could push some people quit smoking, a health official says.

Michael Seilback, a member of the American Lung Association of the state of New York, said if the new 62-cent federal tax added to a single pack of cigarettes encourages smokers to quit, it could potentially lower smoking-related healthcare costs and deaths, the New York Post reported Sunday.

The federal tax will be applied to all cigarette sales in New York following the recent passage of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program law.

But wait a minute! If people quit smoking numerous government health programs will lose funding. For years the government has claimed to want you to stop smoking while at the same time piling "sin taxes" on cigarettes in the hope that you're continue. These taxes have long been considered a tax on poor people since they make up a large portion of the smoking public.

Something has to give...