Article from Reason by John Stossel and Naomi Brockwell.
Kamal Saleh runs a small store in New York City. He was recently given a summons to appear in court for violating one of New York’s many rules. His crime was selling cigars… 11 cents too cheaply.
It’s not often people complain about things being too cheap. But New York City says stores may not sell tobacco below a certain price.
“Very cheap products should no longer be available. It deters children from starting smoking,” says Dr. Kurt Ribisl, who studies tobacco policy and testified at the New York hearings in favor of the tobacco price floor. “Cigarettes are the most lethal product ever introduced into interstate commerce.”
John Stossel agrees cigarettes are dangerous. But he asks Dr. Ribisl, “Shouldn’t individuals have the right to decide for themselves if they want to smoke? And what is the cost to New York City businesses in complying with all these regulations?” For tobacco alone, the regulations are 47 pages long.
Read the entire article at Reason.
Image Credit:Â Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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Who the heck is this guy to say what we should or shouldn’t do. F*ck this a-hole.
Anyone able to escape from New York, should.
CONTROL. Politicians and bureaucrats love it. Freedom loving people? Not so much.
Shouldn’t they be praising the man who knows why when the weather is too hot or too cold it is due to global warming? Al’s Daddy made his fortune selling tobacco, and I suppose Al kept that farm going until he decided to sue “Big Tobacco” for more money than the farm could ever bring in.
Hypocrites to the ultimate. New York has gone the way of California when it comes to political leaders, but again liberals are the ones who are driving this craziness. The legalization of pot for example, stop smoking cigarettes but smoke all the pot you want, it’s harmless and no respect for our immigration laws
I got tired of similar b.s. when I tried to run a dental mfg. company in Northern Illinois. I finally moved it in toto to Central Nevada. What a difference! I paid for the move in one year, and have never looked back. I did not bring any Illinois Democrat political b.s. with me, either.