Celebrating World No Tobacco Day

FORCES.ORG ^ | May 31, 2004 | FORCES

[Publius6961]

Actually, I think I addressed all those concerns, though I didn't get into anything specific with regard to legal stuff: my tolerance for reading law is a lot lower than my tolerance for reading science. I remember at one point I speculated on lawsuits for damages/injuries/deaths caused by smoking bans and the resultant "secret smoking" and dangerous discarding of smoking materials.

Thank you for your reply. My questions were mainly rhetorical. It is puzzling that there are 50 million smokers in the country and if the ones I know are any example, they are not sheep. Their creative means of avoiding their local state tax on cigarettes are nothing short of brilliant. I refrain for saying more for obvious reasons.

Getting back to the number of smokers, if only half of them contributed one ($1) dollar a month to a Lucky Strike-Back fund, that would amount to $25 million a month for filing and maintaining suits against the worst violators of civil rights on both coasts (no smoking at the beach??? bust me for littering, but don't be silly!)

. $25 million a month divided into $25,000 chunks means we can harrass 100 communities indefinitely, bleed them dry and cancel any share they may be "enjoying" from the tobacco "sin" windfall. Personally, I would be ecstatic to contribute for the rest of my life. Just knowing those moronic controlling twits are constantly defending themselves would be sooooo satisfying.

[Publius6961]

I did what again??????
...
Help - I'm lost.........

Responded to one of the whack-jobs. That just feeds their delusion of self-importance and keeps them coming back.

[Publius6961]

start writing what???????

Here's one suggestion:

101 WAYS TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST ILLEGAL STATE TAXES...

[Gabz]

You are very correct. I did do that. I've been trying to get better!!!

However, there are other folks that may only be reading/lurking who might otherwise accept what the whack jobs are claiming without having the fallacies pointed out. Those are the people my comments are primarily made to and for.

[Gabz]

You are TOO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!

[Madame Dufarge]

[Gabz]

Believe me, we have been trying for YEARS!!!!!!!!!

Because I don't want to violate any rules here by seeming to be soliciting, feel free to FReepmail me or use my email addy from my homepage and I will be more than happy to further discuss the problems we face trying to get smokers to get organized and funded.

[arthurus]

I read this morning about No Smoking day and felt so good about all the progress made that I got my Havana product from its hiding place in the humidor under the floorboards and lit it up in celebration.

[Gabz]

LOL!!!!!!!!!

[appalachian_dweller]

Thanks for the pings. My apologies for the slow response. I've been camping all weekend.

I like the idea of walking around w/ an unlit smoke. I do it here at work and smile at the people who sneer at me.

Quite entertaining actually.

I too will not quit smoking...just my political statement.

My lungs, My choice!

[SheLion]

My apologies for the slow response. I've been camping all weekend.

Oh that's ok. Hope you had a super week-end. Camping sounds like fun!!

[Gabz]

Hope you had lots of fun camping........

I'm going to be up in Delaware next weekend......it's going to be fun walking around with an unlit cigarette....I can just imagine the reactions I'm going to get!!!

[appalachian_dweller]

Thanks. I did. We all did.

You should take a camera with you to Delaware. I'd love to see some of these twits expressions.

[Gabz]

Of course I'll have a camera!!

I mis-typed, I'm not going to be there on the weekend, I'm going up next Wednesday.

In fact I'm going up for a fundraiser for a friend of mine who is running for Governor. He owns a bar in a town just north of Dover and was very vocal in the fight against the smoking ban. He has a lot of other issues, particularly involving veterans, but the smoking ban is actually what caused him to get involved politically.

As far as I know his bar is the only business cited for smoking violations that has beaten the rap. He sells non-tobacco cigarettes and smoking them is perfectly legal because they contain no tobacco. The Delaware ban specifically states "tobacco" and nothing else..........

The smoke police could not say if the smoking they saw going on in his bar was tobacco cigarettes or non-tobacco cigarettes. Case dismissed.

[Cantiloper]

Publius wrote: "Getting back to the number of smokers, if only half of them contributed one ($1) dollar a month to a Lucky Strike-Back fund, that would amount to $25 million a month for filing and maintaining suits against the worst violators of civil rights on both coasts (no smoking at the beach??? bust me for littering, but don't be silly!)"

If PM and the other tobacco companies had partnered with smokers in an openly funded "defense fund" back in the 90s (with the companies and smokers each kicking in a dime a pack) instead of getting buddy buddy with the Attorney Generals and the Antis we might have seen something like that happening. Unfortunately, the companies sold smokers down the river with the Master Settlement Agreement in an attempt to save their own hides, and smokers never got over the misperception that the compaines were fighting for them and thus there was no need to fight for themselves.

:/
Michael J. McFadden