# New Fucking Jersey **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374 "2006-03-07T14:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/41 "2006-03-07T20:33:39Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > In the areas of NJ I’ve lived, liquor stores are generally open on Sundays, but not until after noon. Most bars are also seemed to be open, though they usually close earlier than they do during the rest of the week, though I don’t know if that was by law or by choice. Of course, all the preceding can, and does, vary by jurisdiction; there are even some towns in NJ which are dry! I’m not sure about grocery stores which sell beer and wine, since there are so few of them and I don’t recall ever buying beer in one, anyway. Sorry for the continued hijack, but didn’t Cecil do a column on the origins of blue laws? ISTM I recall one, but I’m not finding anything on a search. Why exactly no beer or alcohol on Sunday? Are the laws based on religion? And to try to drag back to the topic…I think we’re losing valuable revenue. With everyone quitting smoking because it’s cost prohibitive, the states are going to have to go back to charging the rest of us to make up the difference. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fat\_Chance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Fat\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fat_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/42 "2006-03-07T20:43:30Z")
> [@black455](#): > > Speaking of which, can you buy beer at the supermarkets in NJ? Or does anybody know where to find a liquor store close the Courtyard in Mahwah? There is Bottle King a few miles south of the Courtyard, though its on the 17N side, but you’ll have to U-Turn to get back anyway. That and you about 8 seconds from NY (Suffern) where you can by beer at any gas station, supermarket, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/43 "2006-03-07T21:22:54Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > Sorry for the continued hijack, but didn’t Cecil do a column on the origins of blue laws? I couldn’t find one, either. > [@Maureen](#): > > Are the laws based on religion? That’s my understanding, yes. > [@Maureen](#): > > With everyone quitting smoking because it’s cost prohibitive, the states are going to have to go back to charging the rest of us to make up the difference. 😉 That’s no good. I want my money’s worth, dammit. Might have to go back to smoking, just to get what I’m paying for. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/44 "2006-03-07T21:40:35Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > That’s my understanding, yes. So, they haven’t been struck down yet becauuuuuuuse…? ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/45 "2006-03-07T22:08:28Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > And to try to drag back to the topic…I think we’re losing valuable revenue. With everyone quitting smoking because it’s cost prohibitive, the states are going to have to go back to charging the rest of us to make up the difference. 😉 I’m guessing it costs more to take care of smoker’s health problems than the revenue gained from cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/46 "2006-03-07T22:18:36Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > So, they haven’t been struck down yet becauuuuuuuse…? I’m no legal expert (I’d sure like to hear from one on this issue), but it seems to me that even though Blue Laws are based upon Christian values, they are not actually establishing a State religion, _per se_, nor preventing one from observing his own religious practices. Unless you wanna try to argue that your religion requires you consume large quantities of Jack Daniels every Sunday. Good luck with _that_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/47 "2006-03-07T22:21:40Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Unless you wanna try to argue that your religion requires you consume large quantities of Jack Daniels every Sunday. > > Good luck with _that_. 😃 Actually, your religion would have to require you to buy or sell large quantities of JD every Sunday. AFAIK, your average blue law doesn’t say a thing about when you consume. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/48 "2006-03-07T22:25:20Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > I’m guessing it costs more to take care of smoker’s health problems than the revenue gained from cigarettes. Um, whoosh. **Q.E.D.** , it says right here in the Northern California Wine Snob Bible that I must have at least one glass of Pinot every night during the winter, yea, and a nice varietal during the summer evenings. And what is UP with being able to buy hard liquor, just not beer and wine? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/49 "2006-03-07T22:26:25Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Actually, your religion would have to require you to buy or sell large quantities of JD every Sunday. Way to kill a joke, McScrooge. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/50 "2006-03-07T22:42:28Z")
People deal with dodgy Eastern European companies. They drive to different states. They dig for tax loopholes only to later get bitten in the ass when they find out the loopholes didn’t exist in the first place. Unless you’re utterly married to your particular brand of cigarettes, the cheapest and best-tasting solution can be found right at your local tobacco shop. My nicotine fix is a ten-minute walk from my house, and it only costs me $10.75 for a carton’s worth of smokes. I could probably cut that price in half by going with a cheaper brand that has a tobacco quality equivalent to Marlboro or Camel, but I like the good stuff. I buy cans of American Spirit tobacco, a brand which, when sold in packs, is more expensive than the regular premium brands, and I use an [injector](http://www.ryomagazine.com/july/injectors.htm) to make my own cigarettes with empty filters (the price of which is included in the $10.75 cited above.) Canned tobacco resides in a different and _far_ lower tax class than premade cigarettes. I wonder sometimes if people don’t realize this and equate the exceptionally low prices of the tobacco with poor quality. Perhaps others have discounted the method entirely because of one bad experience with some truly nasty tobacco like Topps. Whatever the case, buying packs means throwing a hell of a lot of money away for no good reason, IMHO. I can make a full pack in about ten minutes with my cheap (less than $5) injector. Crank-based machines would make that process even faster, but they’re too expensive ($20-$60) for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/51 "2006-03-07T22:50:56Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Not quite. Sales tax is indeed charged, it is simply not collected at the point of sale. Technically, records are supposed to be kept by the consumer and then reported and paid on their state tax forms. Of course, states weren’t so completely out to lunch that they didn’t really expect consumers to do this and so they never really pursued it. Plus, most consumers didn’t realize they were supposed to. I suspect that the cost-benefit ratio would have been prohibitive, as well, unless, say, an online company were to sell out their consumer base and provide names/addresses/amounts owed for them. I have a “What the Hell?” here too - I saw that on my tax return and was wondering the same thing: “am I really supposed to have kept track of this stuff? When did they send out _that_ memo?” Of course I entered 0. So as some others have said, at the least it means a higher risk for audit (though still I doubt this since my income was so small the sales tax for the few hundred dollars I spent on the internet couldn’t possibly be worth their time… I hope), is this correct? Did anyone here actually do this? (keep track of and report internet purchases that is) ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/52 "2006-03-07T22:54:44Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > Canned tobacco resides in a different and _far_ lower tax class than premade cigarettes. Just give it time. It’s a slow, methodic approach, but the Army of Good[sup]TM[/sup] will eventually get around to saving you from yourself. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/53 "2006-03-07T23:09:00Z")
Wait a minute – I could be in real trouble here. I’ve been buying cigs online for well over a year. Is this just sales tax, or cig tax as well? If the former, then not a problem. If the latter, then Oh Shit. Or does it vary by state? ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/54 "2006-03-07T23:09:03Z")
> [@Fat Chance](#): > > There is Bottle King a few miles south of the Courtyard, though its on the 17N side, but you’ll have to U-Turn to get back anyway. > > That and you about 8 seconds from NY (Suffern) where you can by beer at any gas station, supermarket, etc. Sweet! And the U-Turns are the best part about driving in NJ. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/55 "2006-03-07T23:14:36Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > Unless you’re utterly married to your particular brand of cigarettes, the cheapest and best-tasting solution can be found right at your local tobacco shop. Is it true that loose tobacco has fewer additives than the tobacco in cigarettes? (I get my smoking info from Pulp Fiction.) Count me in as another frequent on-line shopper who hasn’t previously been concerned about sales tax. The accountant who did our return didn’t ask about it, and I didn’t look at the forms, so I expect there’s a Zero in that box. Now I’m worried. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/56 "2006-03-07T23:19:53Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Wait a minute – I could be in real trouble here. I’ve been buying cigs online for well over a year. > > Is this just sales tax, or cig tax as well? If the former, then not a problem. If the latter, then Oh Shit. Or does it vary by state? It’s not the sales tax. That’s the same for everything usually. (Up here, the city of Grand Forks tacks on an extra 2% for alcohol.) :rolleyes: It’s the excise and various other fees that get you. That’s why a pack is so much more expensive in NY than ND. The sales tax isn’t that big a difference. Hell, a closer comparison is MN with the $.75 health impact fee on each pack. I imagine the sales tax is almost inconsequential (sp?) compared to the extortion fees collected based on the product. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/57 "2006-03-07T23:30:26Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Is it true that loose tobacco has fewer additives than the tobacco in cigarettes? (I get my smoking info from Pulp Fiction.) AFAIK, that depends on the brand of tobacco you’re smoking rather than its distribution method. The American Spirit that I smoke is 100% tobacco - no additives in either its loose tobacco or its traditional packs. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/58 "2006-03-08T00:07:00Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Did anyone here actually do this? (keep track of and report internet purchases that is) I indeed make sure that I pay “use tax” on internet purchases. Some states (I believe in an effort to get folks to cough up some $$) have a sliding scale of ‘assumed’ internet/catalog purchases, (“If you earn between $10,001- 15,000, you probably owe $x in use tax”). Some states, (like Virginia, for example) have an amount that if you spend less that that, you don’t owe any use tax (in VA, it’s $100. I had recent reason here to do more than a little research on that 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/59 "2006-03-08T00:08:26Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > It’s the excise and various other fees that get you. Suck. Here in MA, we have all sorts of “health” taxes. We pay about $6 per pack. I think I’m going to owe a fuck of a lot. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374/60 "2006-03-08T01:08:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Suck. > > Here in MA, we have all sorts of “health” taxes. We pay about $6 per pack. I think I’m going to owe a fuck of a lot. Yeah, but you must save a ton in insurance premiums considering you get the health care you’re paying for in taxes, right? Right? Oh, who the fuck are we kidding? The taxes are used for non-smokers as well. The problem, as I’ve seen often here, is that as soon as we complain about the unfairness of it all, we’re told we’re the reason health care costs are so high. No win situation. We just have to suck it up. And keep paying. Always keep paying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-fucking-jersey/347374.md?page=4)