Posted on 06/13/2017 6:52:09 PM PDT by Fhios
" ... The national smoking rate has fallen to historic lows, with just 15 percent of adults still smoking. But the socioeconomic gap has never been bigger. ..."
"... Among the nation’s less-educated people — those with a high-school-equivalency diploma — the smoking rate remains more than 40 percent ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Clearly the government must remedy this unfair situation by compelling the rich to resume smoking.
In my college years at LSU, 1952 to 1956, the tobacco companies paid students to hand out to fellow students free sample packs, six to the box, to students as they went from class to class. I did not smoke, my girl friend did, so I would take a sample pack for her. I am sure this happened at other college campuses as well.
Back then a pack of cigs cost about twenty five cents and doctors appeared in advertisments saying smoking was OK to do.
In my college years at LSU, 1952 to 1956, the tobacco companies paid students to hand out to fellow students free sample packs, six to the box, to students as they went from class to class. I did not smoke, my girl friend did, so I would take a sample pack for her. I am sure this happened at other college campuses as well.
Back then a pack of cigs cost about twenty five cents and doctors appeared in advertisments saying smoking was OK to do.
Interesting you should mention that about LSU in the 50’s.
I had a high school teacher in the early 80’s who went to LSU and I remember her telling us the exact same thing. She said that there would be packs in her mail box or under the door to her dorm room or just handed out.
Louisiana has always had a higher rate of smoking and right at two years ago New Orleans banned smoking in bars. I thought there would be riots, but there was hardly a peep.
I went to a few bars a day or two after the ban took place and every one complied with the law and few complained.
And that’s New Orleans where I used to joke that it was a big step for New Orleans enforce small No Smoking sections in kindergarten classrooms.
Back in the eighties, I worked for a media advertising company. The staff was educated and well-paid.
However, the company's activities on behalf of clients led to a need for a customer phone call-in center. This was duly created as a big room outfitted with workstations for the (mostly overweight and mostly female) staff. Naturally, they were paid far less than the company's permanent workforce.
What I noticed, walking thru the call center after hours was, it positively stank of smoke and cheap perfume! In complete contrast to the rest of the premises.
A few years later, smoking indoors was banned.
>> Smokers are stupid.
Really?
>> it takes a lot more money to provide health care to smokers.
Perhaps you should focus on your pasta intake. Ya’ know... the diabetes epidemic.
Here the local store has dollar packs of cigarettes for poor people. I smoke cigars...quit smoking after high school.
So am I. The smoking mafia get their knickers in a twist when they realize it's Republicans, Tea Party, and Libertarians as well as the donkeys that march into voting booths, and freely vote, to increase taxes.
The recent $2 per pack increase in California was fantastic.
My best observation has been my being on a college campus on a regular basis for 30 years. Twenty years ago I would say that 40-50% of the students were at least social smokers. Today, I doubt that number is even at 10%.
It's been my observation as well. The campaign to socially ostracize smokers has been very effective. As mentioned in another post, I smoked for 30 years before quitting cold turkey in 2015. Haven't touched nicotine in any form since.
When I joined the Navy in 2003, damn near everyone smoked. These days there are very few smokers left (and about half of those people vape). There is a constant drumbeat over smoking cessation and health-awareness.
When the campaign to ban smoking indoors was in full effect, you could always find people outside the entrances puffing away. I rarely see people smoking in public anymore. I remember being a smoker stationed in San Diego. I started leaving my cigarettes at home when I went out because the ugly looks I got from people when I smoked outside made me feel uncomfortable.
Sorry for the ugly look, but that was just my normal face.
You're reading the stats wrong.
From the CDC:
By Education
Current cigarette smoking was highest among persons with a graduate education degree certificate (GED) and lowest among those with a graduate degree.
It's funny because reading the article, you can feel the underlying seething anger that the rich aren't paying their fair share of tobacco taxes.
What is completely danced around is the consideration that perhaps people are wealthy because of their work ethic; an ethic that values sacrifice and commitment, the same ethics that are leaned upon when one quits smoking.
It doesn’t make sense. I will say that you have a hell of a time finding anyone on govt assistance that doesn’t smoke. I always find it amusing that poor people have the $$ to spend $5 or $6 a pack for smokes, and you also never see them drink cheap beer.
Yes. You aren't reading the stats correctly. In total, 15% of all Americans smoke. For people who only have a high school GED or less, about 40% of all these people smoke. For people with graduate degrees, only about 3% smoke. The smoking rate correlate in between with the more educated smoking less.
This trend pretty much agrees with all anecdotal observations on this thread.
Exactly. When I stand outside on a smoke break at work, invariably someone walking by makes snide comments about my smoking. My answer, if the situation fits and it does about 90% of the time is, “When you lose a hundred pounds come back and I’ll listen to you.”
I vape too. It’s fun.
I never smoked cigs, but oddly I gravitate towards tobacco flavors. There’s lots of them.
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