Bloomberg's anti smoking laws have claimed three more lives. This time it wasn't a hapless bouncer who was killed after being forced to enforce Bloomberg's law. Instead it was members of the criminal element that has sprouted up in response to the Mayor's policies.

With city and state taxes boosting the price of cigarettes, hundreds of streetwise hustlers are selling cheap tax-free smokes - an illegal but lucrative trade that is becoming nearly as cutthroat as dealing drugs.

One teenage victim, Cody Knox, was buried yesterday, two weeks after he was chased by two fellow bootleggers and fatally stabbed because he was undercutting cigarette prices by a buck, stealing his rivals' business.

Of course when New York passed a state wide ban, and NYC Mayor Bloomberg artificially boosted the price of cigarettes to somewhere between an arm and a leg, the results were pretty easy to predict.

When that happens, everyone will just stop smoking, right? Wrong. Cigarettes and tobacco products will go underground. As enforcement increases, prices will skyrocket and trafficking will be a lucrative business. It will also lead to more serious crimes, like murder, and money laundering.

Bloomberg's ban has even led to common thievery, like people running out on their checks.