It seems the folks at the LRC beat me to the smoking punch in the past day or so: even Lew himself has something to say about smoking. Smoking for many Christians is considered a sin, and it is a huge crutch for most as well. Smoking for many non-smokers is considered disgusting, and they believe it should be stamped out by force of the law.

I’m not a smoker currently — my better half asked me to help her quit about 14 weeks ago (I was up to a pack a day if I was socializing or with clients), so she did the patch and I did the cold turkey. 14 weeks later and I believe I’ve had one or two (at a casino with a scotch in the other hand). 14 weeks later and she’s back up to her pack-a-day fix. Oops.

I’m never disgusted when I meet a smoker. I’ve always told the lady that smoking was sexy (the oral fixation affects even us puritanical sorts), and that I never minded the whole breath/clothing-stink/whatever that bothered most. Smoking reminds me of old America, when men were men and people stayed out of other people’s lives.

It saddens me that cigarettes are the forbidden fruit now. I truly believe that the more We the People tell You the Criminal to not do something, the more likely it is to be done. Entire cities near me are considering dumping the sale of cigarettes — a nice profitable product for convenient stores, gas stations and bars. The ban in the 1920’s in Utah caused a huge uproar, and I don’t think it will be any different in the 2000’s.

My favorite coffee shop/pancake house hangout as a kid used to be open 24/7 for decades. Once the town banned smoking in restaurants, they started to close at 10pm and now the place is a ghosttown after the old folks leave at 6pm. I know of bars that are on the verge of locking their doors in that same town in Illinois. I’m not pro-taxation at any level, but it surprises me that the towns don’t realize that the ban chases more businesses out than the taxes do! Imagine how prosperous an economy would be without bans or taxes — growth and reinvestment and more growth.

Even though I haven’t smoked for 14 weeks and haven’t had the urge to, I don’t admit to anyone that I’ve “quit.” I’m happy at the added savings (US$5-$7 a pack a day adds up to thousands a year), but black market cigarettes are more pronounced. I’ve seen black market smokes as cheap as U$1, and I’m fairly certain they’re made by the same people as the US$7 packs. Government doesn’t seem to realize that the more they control an item, the more incentive they give to the gangs, the mob, and those just trying to make a buck without reporting it.

At this point, the only tobacco that touches my lips is a cigar here and there, or my pipe maybe once in a blue moon. I’ve touched neither in probably 5 months, but the chances do arise from time-to-time.

If you’re a smoker trying to quit and continually failing, try just cutting back. Going from 1 pack a day of non-stop puffing to 1/2 a pack a day of reward is more mental than physical. I recently helped a friend go from 2 packs a day of habit puffing to 1/2 a pack of reward puffing and he’s much happier, wealthier, and I still gladly go out with him so I can be in his presence. Do I miss the taste of a well made cigarette? Sure I do. Unfortunately, the cigarettes in the US aren’t well made (except for Nat Sherman), and I know who to blame for it. Just as auto manufacturers received subsidies to stay competitive (causing the quality of vehicles made here to drop), the same is true for the cigarette industry.

My long term view? The states will ban cigarette sales, so the feds will likely raise subsidies for the tobacco farmers. We’ll smoke less, pay more, and reward ourselves with more tyranny in how we live our lives.

New legislation is being proposed by an authoritarian Chicago lawmaker, with the attempt to bar 15 and 16 year old from driving. State Representative John D’Amico, who represents part of Chicago and the suburb Lincolnwood, says “I think at 16, we’re just not ready to be behind a wheel of a car.”

John, be quiet. Go home and work on teaching your own kids responsibility and safety. We don’t want you, we don’t need you, and you have no idea what the unintended consequences of your proposal will be. Even the Illinois Secretary of State office disagrees: “We feel that the vast, vast majority of 16-year-olds are able to drive safely,” said Dave Druker, a secretary of state spokesman.

Other proposals have called for more training, much to the cheer of the training industry: Kathy Clausen, vice president of a-Adams School of Driving, also is pushing for more training. “If the students had the training they need to have, they would be much safer drivers,” Clausen said.

Amazing! Licensing brings out the cronies, it seems.

Let us consider those unintended consequences of John D’Amico’s ridiculous plan:

1. Teenagers perform important labor at a reasonable cost for the retail industry. Cutting them off for 2 years means the already burdened retail industry could be adversely affected. Lincolnwood and Chicago are within 1/2 hour of 3 of the largest malls in the Midwest.

2. Teenagers are already policed by the only important group that matters to me: the insurance companies. If Allstate can find a way to safely pay for the accidents that teenagers perform, I have my faith in Allstate. I’d like to see the driving age dropped even lower — 14 would be good. I drove at 14, and I was very safe.

3. We have other laws that may affect teenager driving accidents. Drinking ages are now 21, which to me seems like it would cause teenager who drink to hide it and possibly overdrink at private parties away from the supervision of a bartender or someone with more experience with alcohol. I believe that drinking ages are wrong, and I believe they cause more teenagers to over-imbibe.

If teenage deaths from driving accidents were on the increase, insurers would drop teenage drivers. We have a great market solution to the driving age. In fact, I fully believe that the insurance companies should just replace the Department of Motor Vehicles entirely — you will not find a worse government organization full of lazy union cronies who don’t want to do anything but take another paid break.

Representative John D’Amico: go ahead and try to pass your proposal. I can only hope that it affects your area’s economy so harshly that I’ll be able to tell your constituents “I told you so.” You’re useless, I looked at your biography: Transportation & Motor Vehicles, Workers’ Compensation and Unemploy, Elections & Campaign Reform. Your assignments are with some of the most notoriously corrupt markets regulated by our state.