I just read this article on Yahoo about tobacco control and I seriously need to write a rebuttal to it. I\'m a current smoker and it is a choice that I made. The article basically states that the government needs to tax the hell out of cigarettes to get people to quit. That doesn\'t do anything. People smoke for various reasons. I started smoking socially. I\'d get drunk and run out with my friends and bum cigarettes off. But nicotine helps to calm people down too. I smoke the most when I\'m stressed out. I also smoke when I get bored or just to have a little bit of pleasure in my day. I like to smoke cigarettes. I smoke too much, yes but I do like driving around on a nice day and have a few or sitting outside on my stoop and bullshitting with my friends over a couple cigarettes.
New Jersey enacted a smoking ban in public restaurants and bars a couple years back. It is a good law, I agree, but I do feel that it is encroaching on the rights of the restaurants/bars to allow their patrons to smoke. The only places that are allowed it now are hookah bars (though I talked to the owner of one and he said getting a license to operate one is hard because of the new law), private smoke lounges and private clubs. I even heard of a law being proposed in the state to ban smoking while driving. Yet, up until recently you were allowed to text while driving (but couldn\'t talk on the cell phone).
However, the more I grew used to the law, the more I began to like it. It really isn\'t bad to go outside to have a cigarette. I usually smoke after meals anyway so going outside after I pay the check really isn\'t bad. And at bars, all the smokers go outside and congregate together and bullshit.
This is the article. I tried posting the full thing for you guys but I went over in characters.
http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/usflunksontobaccocontrolreportcard.htmlAccording to the American Lung Association\'s State of Tobacco Control 2008, the federal government as well as most states failed to enact critical policy measures, such as higher taxes on cigarettes and to adequately regulate tobacco products.
The government really shouldn\'t, I feel. As part of this country, we have the right to choose. I choose to smoke and they shouldn\'t be raising taxes and policy to encroach on my right to smoke. Laws so others don\'t have to be subjected to my habit are good. I won\'t smoke in a bar or restaurant so others don\'t get second hand smoke. But raising taxes is ridiculous. Taxes on a pack are high as it is. The least I pay for a pack of Camels is 6 bucks. It adds up and with the nature of nicotine addiction, raising the taxes isn\'t helping anyone except the government making money. Because I, as are others, are addicted, they will pay more. Its like a crackhead getting ripped off on a rock. He will still pay the higher price to satisfy his addiction.
"Effective tobacco control saves both lives and money,"
If he\'s talking about what his organization was talking about before, its not saving money. People are still paying for cigarettes as I have stated before.
another 50,000 die from exposure to secondhand smoke
I honestly still doubt the effects of secondhand smoke. Haven\'t seen nor really researched into the matter but I feel the studies are exaggerated or biased in some way. I grew up around my family smoking and was always breathing it in and never had a problem, nor has any non smokers I\'ve known who were around secondhand. Though, I could be wrong.
"All the while, tobacco companies continue to find new ways to keep smokers hooked," he said. "Each day, the tobacco industry lures 1,100 kids into becoming regular daily smokers. Also each day, 1,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases. It\'s easy to see from this arithmetic that the tobacco industry is motivated to attract new young replacement smokers."
This guy from the lung association is so biased it isn\'t even funny. I do not see how tobacco companies are finding new ways to keep people hooked. Phillip Morris, who is a tobacco giant has a website dedicated to smokers who want to quit. They can\'t advertise in most cases, the only form they can is on magazines. And those are even pretty limited to certain types. And I seriously don\'t see how they are luring kids into it. Is there some guy from the tobacco company waving a pack in front of kids saying "you know you want to."? Most kids start smoking because they think its "cool" and because "everyone is doing it"; peer pressure. I have friends in south Jersey who say they got into it when they were teens because that was "just the way it was growing up" and that they were around it and it was just a part of life.
This year\'s report card for the federal government was "abysmal," Paul Billings, the association\'s vice president for national policy and advocacy, said during the teleconference.
I find it funny that this guy uses the term "report card" in his rhetoric.
An "F" for a cigarette tax -- the federal government\'s cigarette tax is 39 cents per pack, well below the "F" standard of anything just less than 60 cents a pack.
As stated before, they shouldn\'t be taxed to shit. It should be states rights to tax tobacco.
The report card also faulted the federal government for not doing more to increase access to smoking-cessation programs, Billings said. "While the Medicare drug program covers smoking-cessation drugs, the federal government does not require state Medicaid programs to cover cessation treatments and services for Medicaid recipients," he said. This, despite the fact that people receiving Medicaid smoke at almost a 60 percent higher rate than the national average, he added.
I have to agree with this guy here. There should be smoking-cessation programs more widely available for those who have trouble quitting. Quitting isn\'t the problem with smoking, at least for me. The problem is staying away. I quit cold turkey for a while and didn\'t have an issue until some personal stuff came up and I relapsed and haven\'t made any effort since (even though I\'m over it) to quit.
The CDC estimates that smoking costs the U.S. economy more than $193 billion each year, including $96 billion in health-care costs and $97 billion in lost productivity, Connor said.
I honestly don\'t see how it is costing the economy this much each year. I would have thought people buying cigarettes and the money going to farming, producing, etc is helping the economy. The money is still being spent. And this billions of dollars to health care costs I would think benefits the medical industry. The loss in productivity I can see though. But, I do admit, when it comes to understanding the economy, I\'m pretty bad at it and hope someone explains this better to me.
"Firstly, the Congress must give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco products," Connor said. "State governments must step up and fully fund tobacco-cessation programs, increase cigarette taxes, and pass comprehensive smoke-free air laws."
no
David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria Group Inc., the parent company of the tobacco giant Philip Morris, said: "We sell our products only to adult consumers. We are looking for folks who choose to smoke who are of legal age to do so. We are going to compete for their business, but we are not looking to recruit new smokers and we certainly don\'t want anyone under age using tobacco products of any kind."
Sutton said Philip Morris is "opposed to excise taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products because they unfairly burden adult tobacco consumers." The company supports the efforts of smokers who want to quit and endorses having the FDA regulate tobacco products, he said.
I like this guy and he\'s right, 100%. Tobacco is an adult product and taxing tobacco unfairly burdens those who choose to smoke. It would be like highly taxing a cheeseburger at McDonalds because it causes obesity. Those people who smoke know its harmful effects. I know them and I choose to smoke. Taxing them and having me pay higher prices I feel is ridiculous. I feel like I\'m being targeted and discriminated against just because I choose to smoke.
The last thing I want to say is the tobacco industry is a legitimate industry. There is a demand for tobacco and they deliver. They aren\'t out "to get" anyone. They compete with one another just like any other business. They are targeting people who choose to use their products and aren\'t trying to get people hooked. Tobacco has nicotine in it. Its addictive. Its found naturally in the plant. There are cigarette companies out there that take it out. But most people smoke for the nicotine fix. They shouldn\'t be vilified because they offer a product for adults to consume, if they so choose. Smoking is bad. But so is most fast food. Should we be targeting McDonalds because they offer a fatty food?
Ok I\'m done and I\'m going outside for a cigarette.
