CIGARETTE TAX PITS NY STATE GOVERNMENT AGAINST SOVEREIGN NATIONS

Who would ever have guessed that cigarettes would cost over $9.00 a pack??? As if the reality that desperate smokers are being punished by New York State at $4.35 per pack tax for their bad habit isn’t  enough, the state is also attempting to force the Indian Nations to pay the tax to them on every pack they sell. Considering the American Indian Nations are deemed “sovereign” (which means they were declared independent by treaties made in the 1700s and cannot be controlled by anyone but themselves) and that Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says that “states do not have power to commerce with tribes much less regulate them,” doesn’t it appear as though the New York State government is merely trying to elicit money from any source regardless of legality or ethics?
I am neither a Native American, nor am I a smoker but absolutely believe the state should leave the Indians alone! They are trying to make the best of what they were left with when the colonists took over their lands and drove many of their members west to fend for themselves in a bitter and harsh environment.
Governor Patterson, I strongly suggest that you and your peers refrain from speaking with forked tongues and stop trying to change treaties and revamp the United States Constitution.