SMOKERS ARE SURE TO AVOID NEW TAX

YOUR article about smokers looking for ways to avoid Proposition 10, the
newest ``sin tax'' (Page 1A, Nov. 22), belabors the obvious. Did anyone
think that we would cheerfully fork over an extra 50 cents a pack because
``it's the law'' or ``it's for a good cause''?

I invite your attention to Prohibition and the 55-mph speed limit. Both
were passed into law with good intentions. Both were almost universally
ignored for many years. Did Rob Reiner, the Mercury News, and the other
social engineers think that this law would be viewed differently?

Joseph D. Doyel, San Jose

HIGHER tobacco taxes in California have already caused sales to be driven
out of state. Your article indicated that a significant amount of taxes is
currently not being collected each year because citizens use various
methods, such as the Internet, to procure tobacco items from out of state
or from Indian reservations. It is therefore obvious that the effect of
Proposition 10 will be to drive even more sales out of state.

My question is this: Why did this article not appear in the Mercury News
prior to the election?

Herb Busch, San Jose

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski