Letter writer Mary Striska is way off base with her complaint that she has no rights as a smoker (“Smoker sounds off,” Voice of the people, Jan. 18). She still has the right to kill herself with cigarettes, but communities are finally taking away her ability to take non-smokers with her by outlawing smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places.
Her comparison of cigarette taxation to that of liquor is also a non-starter. The State of Illinois taxes liquor up to an extra $4.50 a gallon (based on percent of alcohol) over the sales tax. Cook County adds up to $2 a gallon.
And to have the privilege of hoisting one in Chicago, add as much as another $1.85 a gallon.
Her final comment about the cost of cleaning up after drinkers is laughable. The number of disgusting cigarette butts I see at beaches and parks, on the sidewalks and in the streets is nauseating, as smokers use the world as their ashtray. So bad is the problem that people with brooms and dustpans must collect the carelessly discarded butts.
Striska needs to get out from behind her cloud of smoke and see the world as it really is.
