Do you still "heart" NY even though you can't express that emotion on a disposable lighter?

I love stop smoking campaigns. The asinine, overblown, emo, condescending, in-your-face ads have helped further the mystique that no matter how bad the facts are, no matter how much dog and pony show they can jam into 30 second spots for endless replay during America's commercial breaks, people are still going to smoke. I myself am smoking a cigarette while writing this article (mmmm, fine Kentucky blend), but fear not, I am also employing the common courtesy to slowly pile on the inevitable in the comforts of my office, in my own home.

Of course, our governments sprang right into action, suing every company that made something that even remotely sounded like tobacco like it was a "2 for the price of 1" sale. That the giant tobacco settlement went largely elsewhere rather than smoking prevention efforts was less than surprising. But some states are pulling themselves up by the bootstraps, knuckling down, and rising above the cliche to actually try to do something about it.

New York state, for example, sells ashtrays and disposable cigarette lighters with the iconic "I heart NY" logo on them. Damn, hold up a second here. My fault, that's more the enabling side of the equation. While New York has been raking in the dough from the, ahem, "tobacco accessories" (my apologies to head shops everywhere), over $1 million a year now, it seems like even more of the irony is lost when you consider New York spends $87 million per year on smoking cessation promotion and treatment.

Naturally, there are complaints, to be sure. Milton Glaser, who designed the world-famous logo, said he never would have approved the deal. See what happens, kids, when you do not control the copyright? The result of complaints? Inevitably, the yes-holing begins. A yeshole for New York Health Commissioner Richard Daines said it was "wrong to use the beloved "I heart NY" brand to promote smoking, the number one killer of Americans," and a yeshole for Empire State Development, who oversees the New York Department of Economic Development, the agency that manages the copyright, said the whole problem was the Pataki administration's approval of the contracts, and department lawyers were working "to end the practice as soon as possible."

First off, what is the complaint here? While New York should be applauded, I guess, for coughing up the dough to help prevent smoking each year, should they not also be applauded for raising revenue through something other than taxes? Granted, this is not the best profit margin I have ever seen from playing both sides of the fence, but there is ground to be made up in the budget form that $87 million, and people are going to throw a fit over disposable lighters? Never have seen a self-lighting candle...Why shouldn't New York sell knick knacks with their brand(s) on them?

Obviously, someone buying an ashtray is going to fall into one of two categories, a smoker, or a non-smoker buying a gift. These people are immune to the argument, as smokers arent generally going to care what's on an ashtray, just so long as it's not flammable, and non-smokers have no need for smoking prevention, other than their own free will. Buying an ashtray when you are trying to quit smoking may seem like spending your last five bucks on a wallet, but if that money, in some small way, makes up for the money New York is spending to put your habit out of business, then doesn't the whole argument seem like a bunch of smoke? It would have been smoke and mirrors, but the "I heart NY" mirrors are on back-order...