Make Your Own Cigarettes

First a disclaimer:

"I'll teach you when you grow up. I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine." - W.C. Fields

Here's some local history: In 2008 Maryland raised cigarette taxes to two dollars a pack. This was on top of sales taxes, federal taxes, and a very sketchy "tobacco settlement," some years back. Having gotten tired of subsidizing every facet of our government, we set out to find an alternative. My solution was simply to buy my cigarettes in Delaware or Pennsylvania. However, my friend Kim found a shop in Shrewsbury, Pa. that specializes in roll-your-own cigarettes. I was skeptical, but this isn't some cowboy/hippie non-filter stinky cat-turd outfit; they have actual rolling machines for purchase - good ones. And tubes with filters attached, along with fifty or more tobacco blends.
You can buy the stuff off the internet, but the key is to visit the place, 7 Valleys Custom Blends, yourself and find the right fit. Along with the 50 blends of tobacco, there are close to 50 different types of filtered tubes in stock. The owner of the store we visited (there are several in Pa.), asked us what we smoked and rolled sample after sample for us to try. After finding a good combo, we bought our tobacco, tubes (free with the tobacco), and a rolling machine.
The machines range in price from about thirty to forty dollars. To make a cigarette you simply attach a tube to the machine, throw in some tobacco, and pull a handle. Do this 20 times and you have a pack. It doesn't take long to learn and it doesn't take long to crank out a big pile of smokes either. We make ours while watching TV.