If new legislation proposed by the New York State tax department is passed, sales of tobacco on Native American reservations will be taxed. Not only will this be yet another blow to Native Americans who have suffered at the hand of the white man for centuries, but it will also be another blow to the liberties of smokers in NY state. It might seem as though an easy solution for the latter would be to simply order from out of state, but that too will be illegal if new laws are passed.
It is clear that the New York State government may not necessarily be strongly opposed to Native American’s rights or smokers’ liberties but that they merely need more moeny after they got far too little funding from the federal government. But taking the easy way out is not the right way to go. Increasing the taxes on petrol and other factors of pollution would be far more beneficial to the residents of the state.
