A tip for the roll-your-own cigarette folks

The poor get hit hardest with taxes. Cigarettes are always a target and with the new federal excise taxes, the roll-your-own crowd has gotten the shaft. And these people are generally the ones with the least money.

I'm not an advocate of smoking. Don't ever start and quit if you can and want to.

But if you still want to smoke, let's play beat the taxes.

The federal tax on loose cigarette tobacco is $24.78 per pound but for pipe tobacco it is only $2.83 per pound.

So buy 'pipe' tobacco. I'm not promoting one company over another but the Southern Steel brand has come out with a pound for $19.95 retail. It's OK and there may be others that have something similar. A local tobacco shop said that it is the only kind selling right now. A pound makes 4 cartons or more the way I roll them and even with buying papers and filters that comes to about $8.50 a carton. Marlboro's are about $45.oo a carton here in Tennessee.

People who smoke and still have the money to buy the factory made product are still in for another surprise soon if they haven't been already. The 'fire safety cigarette.' Reports are that many people are being affected by them negatively and that the taste is 'different.' The adhesive ethylene vinyl acetate added to the papers may be the main factor.

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em. Roll your own and give the government the least amount of tax money you can.

~~~~~~~

And what about reports that have been around since the early 70's that marijuana may help tobacco smokers?

Marijuana has been shown to be an expectorant and actually dilates the air channels it comes in contact with. This is why many asthma sufferers look to marijuana to provide relief. Doctors have postulated that marijuana may, in this respect, be more effective than all of the prescription drugs on the market.

Studies even show that due to marijuana's ability to clear the lungs of smog, pollutants, and cigarette smoke, it may actually reduce your risk of emphysema, bronchitis, and lung cancer. Smokers of cannabis have been shown to outlive non- smokers in some areas by up to two years. Medium to heavy tobacco smokers will live seven to ten years longer if they also smoke marijuana.{more}