Ah, a topic near and dear to my (lungs). I posted this thread:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/general...-michigan.html, a number of years ago. I don't think I ever followed up on it, in the end we were sent a bill for around $2,400 on those $10 carton's of cheap-ass smokes ($20 tax for every carton).
Thankfully, our benevolent (
) government was kind enough to allow us to pay it off, $100 a month for 2 years. When we first learned that the internet smokes were being taxed, we immediately bought a Supermatic "Premier" rolling machine and started buying loose tobacco to roll-our-own. With the cost of a lb. of tobacco, which equals about 2 1/2 cartons and the equivalent tubes, it come's out to roughly $13/carton, and we HAVE TO DO THE LABOR OF ROLLING!
Well, thanks again to the state of Michigan and our lovely Governor Granholm, as of April 1st, the taxes on RYO tobacco shot through the roof. The lb. bags that we have bought for about $19 for the privilege of MAKING our own damn smokes just went UP nearly $25 per bag in taxes. Yes, from about 20 bucks to 45 overnight on April 1.
I make no excuses, smoking is a nasty, disgusting habit. I wish hubby and I had never started 20 years ago and had listened to those much wiser and older who tried to councel us to quit while we still could easily. But here we are, all these years later and hopelessly addicted despite multiple attempts to quit.
I admit this will be the measure that will have to cause us to quit, regardless the results on our sanity and marriage, because we simply cannot afford it once our stockpile of 4 bags is gone.
That in itself pisses me off, this just reeks of some kind of nanny state to me. It hit's those lowest on the economic scale the worst. If you're well off, you can have your poison and won't feel it much, but if you're middle class or under, then we're really gonna hurt you for it. Every couple of weeks if we can swing it, we buy a half-gallon of cheap vodka for cocktails. Have been for YEARS and the price has barely budged (maybe .75 cents in the last 8-10, at least here in MI). I don't get the discrepancy between the taxes on two equally harmful "luxery" items. This is probably silly and stereotypical but in my mind I always picture the humble worker ala' Springsteen or Mellencamp video's with a pack of smokes rolled in their shirt sleeve juxtoposed with a rich guy in a robe with a glass of cognac or fine bourbon in their hand. Stereotype's are rooted in some small part of reality, aren't they?
To get off my rant and answer the OP, I'm sure we both started out in the early years smoking about 1/2 pack a day (me Marlboro light's and he Red's, king's both). Eventually we made the comparison and saw that there was indeed more smoke there in a 100 and switched to those, which we smoked until we were forced to buy cheap over the net. I couldn't tolerate full flavor so he switched to light's for me, I'm sure we were both a pack a day by then. By present time I think we are both still about a pack a day, occationally maybe 1 1/2 if we are stressed or happy about something (funny how that works!) or drinking.
P.S. Even though I want/don't want to quit smoking, I will never be one of "those" ex-smokers who hounds others. I know what a bitch of an addiction smoking can be.