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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

Please let me know if you'd like your link added

Common Sense: Tobacco
First I must say that I do not smoke, never have, never will, and am not in favor of smoking. I am however, a firm believer in the free market, and the consumer's right to choose. Today the effort appears to be to destroy the cigarette companies because of the health problems that the habit is claimed to cause. States are attempting to shift the responsibility from the smoker/consumer to the cigarette manufacturer, by having the cigarette companies pay for the health benefits for lung cancer patients. This is similar to suing an alcohol distiller for a DWI accident. This provides little, if any, incentive to stop smoking because the cost is not directly assigned to the smoker. The smoker can smoke, and the company will pick up the tab for the cost of their habit.

Today's efforts, if the opponents get their way, would likely bankrupt the tobacco companies. This I would argue this is not a good thing for America, smoker or non-smoker. The tobacco companies are huge exporters, employers, and their stocks are in many pensions. They are some of the most profitable companies on Wall Street. The U.S. will never be rich enough that it can just eliminate world leading industries from within our shores. We need these companies. Their benefits in terms of jobs and income, far out-weigh their costs which are self-inflicted, and avoidable by just not smoking. I would argue a more constructive approach would be to have each cigarette package contain an insurance policy. It would be highly visable, and be yet another attempt to inform the consumer. The tobacco companies could pool their resources and purchase an insurance policy, paid for with a portion of the cigarette price, to cover the health benefits. Lung cancer is very rare in non-smokers, so all lung cancer patients would be eligible. This could also be administered by having smokers register as smokers when they purchase the cigarettes, and thus be entitled to the benefits. It would need to be a pooled effort by the firms to avoid the problem of which policy pays for a person that smokes a variety of packs. To add a little competition in the situation. People who choose to buy their own insurance, could provide proof of insurance to the tobacco company. The firms would in turn, issue a discount card that expires on the expiration date on the insurance policy. This discount card would reduce the price of the cigarettes by the amount of the insurance. This approach would protect the consumers right to make informed consumer decisions, keep the government out of the issue, protect the right for the firms to produce, the worker's right to work, and the investor's right to invest. America needs these jobs, profits, and places the responsibility and costs where they belong, on the smokers.

 

[Edmund Burke]

Hmm...sorry, I can't agree.  I was a smoker for 17 years, and I've lost multiple family members to emphysema.  If nicotine could be treated as a social drug (i.e., moderation is more common than abuse), I'd feel differently, but nicotine is ADDICTIVE as hell.  I see no difference between it and cocaine, other than it doesn't dope you up and it kills you slower.

I hope smoking fades out, and we should help it along as best we can.  I'm not one for absolute prohibition of such a "traditional" substance, but let's not subsidize it or make it easy for these companies.  They are a drug cartel...we need to keep that in mind.

Nonetheless, I also wince at some of the lawsuits and the use of government to crackdown on tobacco use.  I find it distasteful...but tobacco is a social evil.  Nothing redemptive about it, I'm afraid.

Hmm...sorry, I can't agree.  I was a smoker for 17 years, and I've lost multiple family members to emphysema.  If nicotine could be treated as a social drug (i.e., moderation is more common than abuse), I'd feel differently, but nicotine is ADDICTIVE as hell.  I see no difference between it and cocaine, other than it doesn't dope you up and it kills you slower.

 

What part do you disagree with? Smoking is adictive and people die from it. Same for alcohol, and it kills innocent people. No one has ever smoked a cigarette by accident, addicted or not. To many people Oprah is addictive as well as falling in love.  

[Edmund Burke]

The part I disagree with is your proposal to retain these industries.  You know, I'm sure Colombia feels the same way..."we can't manage without the coca industry...what would our peasant-farmers grow?" And yes, tobacco is an important American export...to our shame.  This puts us on the same level as the drug-cartelist nations...and I think we're better than that.

And...it's obvious to me that you've never witnessed a loved one dying of emphysema...the gasping for air, the panic in the eyes, the pitiful knowledge that there is no hope.  AdamSmith, last I heard, neither infatuation nor Oprah cause their "addicts" to suffocate to death...slowly, over a number of years.   Your point is silly and...yes, I'm afraid, downright offensive.

Some things take priority over the market.