Ridiculously Unaffordable

Every time I pass a cigarette vending machine, I shake my head and wonder who can afford to smoke these days. I know, I know, you're tired of me saying this. It's not that I'm preaching against smoking; I just can't believe how expensive it's become.

Back in the day, when I was in college, a pack of Lucky Strikes cost me 20 cents if I bought them in a carton of 10, and 25 cents if I bought just one pack. A few years later, on the mainland, a pack of Pall Mall nonfilters cost me 30 cents a pack, or about $2.75 a carton.

Look at the picture above ... $8.00 to $9.00 a pack. At a pack a day, that works out to $2,900 to $3,200 a year. Okay, so one can buy the cigarettes for less at a store, say $5.00 a pack. That still works out to $1,800 a year.

Think of all the steaks you can buy for that amount of money (and they'll taste much better than cigarettes, that's for sure).

Of course, we all know why the prices are so high. It's because of cigarette taxes ... city, state and federal. I betcha 80% or more of the cost goes to the "sin taxes" the governments impose on us.

I'm sure glad I quit ... nearly 50 years ago.