DIYbanter - View Single Post

Mike Marlow[_2_]

wrote:
On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 11:20:29 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
Granted cigarette smoking is harmful to your health but if warning
labels and ads on TV and health education at the doctors office and
in schools is not enough then adding taxes is not going to do any
thing but prompt smokers to obtain their tobacco in another way, and
that is typically is illegal.

So you're saying that it's a complete waste of time to tax tobacco and
spend money on warnings and health education? I can't support that
suggestion at all.

The vast majority of smokers would quit immediately if it was easy. No
more bad taste in their mouths. No more sore throats, no more nicotine
stained fingers. No more watching their money go up in smoke. All of
these things made me quit smoking thirtyfive years ago. Smokers and
non-smokers alike know that it's an unhealthy, dirty habit. Education
about smoking has had a huge effect the masses.

The pictures and the ads of smoking caused cancer and other associated
diseases have had an effect on people. If it was otherwise, everybody
would be smoking and they're not. So how do you explain this? How do
you explain people quitting smoking and people hating their smoking
addiction if not for the education and the ads?

Well - to answer that just from one perspective - they have had no effect
The ads to me serve only to satisfy the people who want to believe they will
have an effect - no other real effect on smokers. But if it makes
non-smokers feel better then at least they get to feel good about them.
Education - yes, it has probably had some effect on a percentage of smokers
and that is good. Social movement - yes that too has had some effect on
some percentage of the smokers. But - I believe those benefts are done.
The ads - don't fool yourself - they only make people like you feel good.
They don't have an effect on the remaining population of smokers. Or even
future smokers. By this time we all know well enough the health hazards and
those ads are useless.

Not to argue a defense of smoking, because as I am a smoker, I think the act
is defensless. But - to fool yourself into thinking that taxes and
"education" and ads are going to have any great effect now is kind of silly
in my opinion. Education can have its place (IMHO) in keeping younger
people from starting but that's about as far as I seeing it have any benefit
these days.

Think about it Dave - who in this day and age does not know the hazards of
smoking? Those things won't work on that crop of smokers. Will something
else work? I don't know. I'd like to hope so, but hanging on to tactics
that had a marginal benefit at best (the ads), is kind of pointless.

--

-Mike-