"A tiny amendment buried in the federal transportation bill to be signed today by President Barack Obama will put operators of roll-your-own cigarette operations in Las Vegas and nationwide out of business at midnight.
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But a few paragraphs added to the transportation bill changed the definition of a cigarette manufacturer to cover thousands of roll-your-own operations nationwide. The move, backed by major tobacco companies, is aimed at boosting tax revenues.
Faced with regulation costs that could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars, RYO machine owners nationwide are shutting down more than 1,000 of the $36,000 machines.
"I feel it's kind of shaky,'' Wiessen said. "The man who pushed for this bill is Sen. (Max) Baucus from Montana, and he received donations from Altria, a parent company of Philip Morris. Interestingly enough, there are also no RYO machines in the state of Montana. It really makes me question the morals and values of our elected speakers."
It's all about the tax money, and always has been, folks, it has NEVER been about health. If it's legal, it's legal, if it's not, it's not, then completely ban it, right? Nope, gotta get the tax revenue.
BTW, Baucus is a Democrat, so if you are naive enough to think that only one party gets "big tobacco" money, you are a fool.
For the record, both of my parents died from smoking related illnesses. I hate smoking. This is politics, and it's crap.
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