Personal freedoms are under assault from both the red and the blue. There are fewer and fewer good guys in this battle. I agree with grand cru that a new prohibition era is on the way throughout the Western world as the nanny state flexes its muscle. There's already a significant black market for cigarettes in the U.S. with tax rates varying so greatly from state to state. From what I understand, terrorist cells have discovered the black market sales of cigarettes across state lines are a fast and relatively benign way to raise alot of cash to finance terrorist operations. Tragically, the only thing that may make the nanny-staters realize the error of their ways is a major terrorist attack definitively financed through the black market sale of cigarettes.