Posted on 06/25/2002 1:16:19 PM PDT by Just another Joe
How 'bout eating one....since the legislators are soon going to outlaw hamburgers....
Everything these people say and do is hypocritical and they consistently get away with. The impunity with which they act is what is unbelievable to me.
I understand the nature of your comment, but you know what - it's probably not that bad of an attitude to have.
I remember when I was growing up and the big Sunday family dinners. There was always wine on the table and I was always permitted to have some. And in the summer when those sunday dinners were backyard BBQ's there was always beer, same deal. I was in college before I ever figured out the whys of the binge drinking of some of my friends. Having a glass of wine or a beer was not some unknown taboo to me.
Smoking, OTOH, was a different story. Many members of my family smoked - including both of my parents - yet I was forbidden. No reason, just - "you can't because I say so."
So I did exactly what any other red blooded American teenager did (and does) I rebelled and started smoking. The first time I got caught the neighbors must have thought I had come home pregnant over the hysteria that ensued.
I'm talking the mid 1970's here. Back when it was perfectly legal for me to buy them and smoke them, even though I was under 18. They were also under a buck a pack in NYC, so as a teenager I could afford them.
Sounds like an historical truism. This age group is in the throes of establishing their identities and expressing their individuality in the adult world for the first time. Not only do they question the authority of force, they resent it and will rebel against it. I think humans were born with an encoded message etched deep into their psyches which comes to the fore during transition to adulthood. If it could be put into words, It would probably sound like, "I am not a sheep!"
You are to be commended.
Interesting point. And I have the perfect solution to all the problems - particularly the war on drugs. Actually it is the anti-smokers that have the solution, they just don't realize it.
The anti-smokers claim that nicotine is more addictive than cocaine or heroine. They also claim that for every increase in tobacco taxes there is a reduction in tobacco use.
So, what we need to do is legalize cocaine and heroine, tack a hefty excise tax on it and increase that tax every 6 months or so. Voila no more addicts.
Why not - everyone seems to believe everything else the anti-smokers say about tobacco and they claim increased taxes cures the addiction. So it would be a win-win situation for everyone, particularly the taxpayers. Not only would the billions of dollars in taxpayer money spent on the WOD be saved, the government would start reaping in billions of dollars in excise taxes, and finally there would be all those addicts immediately cured of their addictions because of the continual increases of the taxes.
Nice theory, however quite invalid in that excessive taxation in effect becomes prohibitive. As well, addicts would not care what the price was, if they could not afford it, they would find someone who could afford it and rob them.
Prohibition can take many forms.
---max
My oldest (now 22yo) niece was a rabid anti-smoker 10 years ago. She is now a smoker. It had nothing to do with me, she lives in California, I live in Delaware.
Her younger sister was an even more rabid anti - told her mother she wouldn't come to our house for dinner because we smoke. That attitude has totally changed. She doesn't smoke, and still doesn't like it, but has absolutely no use for the in-your-face anti-smoker mantra that is being, in her words, shoved down their throats.
I am in no way pushing for the legalization of cocaine or heroine.
I am just making an attempt to point out the absurdities of many of the tenets of the anti-smoker doctrines.
In most states it is perfectly legal for a minor to use tobacco products. Only the person selling the product is committing a crime.
I don't know about where you live, but where I live legislation was introduced 3 years ago to make it illegal for a minor to use or possess tobacco products.
The only opposition this proposal got was from the anti-smoker organizations. And because they have so many legislators in their pocket it went no where, so it remains legal in Delaware for minors to possess and use tobacco products.
And before you, or anyone else asks if I have proof - yes I do, but it is currently not in an online format. The newspaper that carried the quotes from the anti-smokers did not have their content online at the time and the scanned copy of the paper that I did have on my computer was among the fatalities of a hardrive failure I encounterd about 3 weeks ago.
You may choose to believe me or not, that is your perogative, and I respect it. But I will give you a quick background, and it benefits lurkers and others that don't know me or think I am some tobacco company employee.
There are 3 days left of the 20th session of the Delaware legislature that I have dealt with. I started dealing with Delaware government in 1982 when I moved here to take my first job as a reporter for a local radio station. After I got out of radio I became one of those evil people known as a lobbyist. It gets worse - I became a member of the executive committe of my local Republican district. Even worse - I became an officer of that committee and so got a seat on the County party committee.
But getting back to the subject - I don't see the Libertarians as the ones targetting kids with tobacco - I only see the anti-smokers guilty of that.
http://www.smokerswarehouse.com/
I just received my first order last week and like the tobacco better than American Spirit (which I've been using for years). I'd call direct though. I ordered on-line and it took almost two weeks to get my order.
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