Again and again I see the pseudo-argument, "don't pick on us because there are other bad and more evil things" in the world. Are we supposed to ignore the burglars because there are murderers? On second thought, though, is tobacco use that innocuous?

In fact, tobacco use is extremely deadly: twenty times as many Americans die each year as the result of tobacco use than as the result of homicides. Five times as many Americans die as the result of tobacco use than as the result of alcohol use. Tobacco use kills more Americans each year than have all illegal drugs in our entire history. Tobacco use kills 150 times as many Americans each year than were killed in the 9/11 attack.

Worldwide, about 5 million people die each year as a result of tobacco use. That makes Hitler look like St. Theresa. Let's do something about it instead of just talking. Let's devote proper resources to eliminating this menace.

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Nobody has mentioned the number of fires that smokers cause, or the deaths as a result of those fires, usually caused by smokers falling asleep while smoking. Could it be that nobody is concerned about smokers killing themselves more directly and immediately, as a result of fire, than killing themselves indirectly and years and years down the road, as a result of smoking diseases?

A separate issue that several commentators have touched on is the issue of the health hazard to companion animals. Tobacco smoke condenses on environmental surfaces, including animal fur and feathers. Animals that preen themselves, such as cats do to an extraordinary extent, absorb the tobacco smoke residue off of their fur. That residue is highly carcinogenic, which is why cats of smokers have such a high rate of malignant lymphoma. This is a different risk factor than that of inhaling the second hand smoke.

So not only can you not condone smoking if you value the sanctity of human life, but you cannot condone smoking if you value the sancity of your companion animals--your pets, your dogs, cats, birds, etc.

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What we call "statistics" are commonly misunderstood. We cannot go up to anyone and say, you, sir, will get lung cancer if you start smoking or continue to smoke. We cannot say that you individually will die sooner and get this or that other disease as a result of smoking. We can say, when we look at hundreds of thousands of people, that it is just as certain as the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow that smokers--on average--are going to die a lot sooner and get more diseases; some will get lung cancer.

There are no recorded cases of lung cancer in medical history prior to the introduction of tobacco. There are other causes of it now, but the vast majority are still due to tobacco.

One of the most common excuses for allowing smoking is something like, "Aunt so-and-so lived to be a hundred and was never sick a day in her life and smoked 3 packs a day." Does the fact that some people survive gunshots mean that you should expose yourself to gunfire? I think not.

I gave my mother's graveside service and when I spoke, I specifically stated that I did not want the fact that she lived to be 82 despite smoking almost one million cigarettes to be used as an excuse by anyone for smoking. She suffered, but she would leave her oxygen to smoke a cigarette.

The damage caused by tobacco smoking is not just a matter of statistics: it can be reproduced in the laboratory on animals and cell cultures. If you value the sanctity of human life, you cannot condone smoking.

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PLEASE!
STOP MAKING THEM FROM NOW ON!

That would't be the wisest decision ever!!!!

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Davie (and others) said, "Society would fall apart very quickly if sinful, selfish humans (we all are) had unrestricted freedom to do whatever pleased themselves..." That's exactly what is happening. Certain, powerful people are allowed unrestricted freedom to do whatever pleases themselves, including genocide, robbery on an unprecedented scale, and other crimes too horrific to name, and everyone pretends they don't even notice. Meanwhile, they take it out on the weak and disenfranchised, not because their crimes are significant, but simply because they are safe targets. If you need a holy cause for all that excessive aggression, I can think of a few that would be more worthy.

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Society would fall apart very quickly if sinful, selfish humans (we all are) had unrestricted freedom to do whatever pleased themselves with no consideration/regard for others.
Again, I'm not just singling out smokers, but cigarette toxins are harmful to others. And I'm not equating smokers to rapists (or drive-by shooters) except for the example of showing the silliness and irresponsibility of advocating unrestricted freedom to sinful, selfish/self-indulgent humans.

I like freedom as much as anyone when it's responsible/respectful. But I can't/won't support irresponsible/disrespectful freedom to intrude upon or harm others.

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Another comment for those who advocate unrestricted freedom for all the selfish, self-indulgent, irresponsible, cruel, destructive, arrogant, intrusive, thoughtless people on Earth. (And I'm not saying only smokers possess the above characteristics.) Everyone knows there are too many people everywhere who can't be given unrestricted freedom; they would intrude upon others and harm/kill themselves and/or others.
Just think about it. What would US society, or any society, be like if everyone did as he or she wanted without restriction or consequence? You like rap music? What about house-rattlingly loud at 2 a.m.? What about drag racing down your street? That could be deadly. And how about explosive meth manufacturing next door? Is it a thief's right to steal your car because he wants it?Then there's the more evil animal/child abuse. Anyone think it's ok for child molesters to rape children or for deranged people to torture dogs or other animals? And what about regular rape? Is it ok for rapists to do what they want with any woman they desire? It's their freedom huh? I don't think so, along with every other thinking, moral person on this planet.

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You will note many pseudo-conservatives who, in their "minds," believe that it is a question of freedom, that those of us who hate smoking are trying to control them or something. I agree that the freedom to kill yourself is something between you and God, not you and society. But you don't have the right to kill yourself by jumping off a bridge onto a crowded freeway, thereby blocking traffic for hours and using society's resources to clean up the mess. That takes money out of all our pockets, inconveniences us, and uses our resources: that's not freedom, that's theft. Of course, even if you do it on a desert island, it would still cost us, because we would have to use government resources looking for your body when you turn up missing. Similarly, when you don't wear a motorcycle helmet and thereby suffer a paralyzing head injury, society is the one that has to pay for your so-called freedom when you require 24-hour-a-day care for the rest of your life.

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The fact that other bad things exist does not excuse smoking. The burglar complains that he's not really bad, look at the robbers. The robbers say that they're not really bad, look at the people who commit assault. The people who commit assault say that they're not really bad, look at the rapists...and so on. The fact that people do horrible things worse than your horrible thing does not make your horrible thing any less excusable. That said, no one is saying that smokers are horrible human beings: they are addicted human beings who do horrible things because of their addiction. Smokers need to be targeted more, not less, because they hurt us all, not themselves. Make America stronger: how can we be strong when our own people are making themselves sick and using common resources that ought to be reserved for genuine sicknesses, not self-inflicted sickness. Addiction is not just physical, it is mental: it is a mental disorder and a physical disorder.

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gee what happen to the bugs that are also in the tobacco..

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