Wow, aren't you just a manly man. Gawsh, how impressive.
Does she keep in locked in the safe, and only let you get it out when you need to play with it?
The numbers on lifetime health costs of smokers v. non-smokers is interesting (do you have a source, by any chance?) but the disparity is even greater than that. Those numbers don't account for the fact that, over their lifetime, most smokers pay $30,000 - $60,000 more in taxes than anyone else in their tax bracket. Figure that in and the numbers become even more impressive. Smoking saves the government a substantial amount of money.
I could understand if the money were going in the Opposite direction, but the simple fact is RWJ is a renowned Philanthropist who spends an awful lot of time trying to do PALAPABLE GOOD with his money.
I guess you can fool some of the people all of the time.
The RJWF is a very clever way to dramatically increase the profits of Johnson and Johnson. It is set up as a separate charitable organization, but their primary source of funds comes from six billion (yes, billion) dollars worth of J&J stock. So when they harass someone into quitting, and that someone wastes his money on J&J's incredibly profitable nicotine patches, gum, inhalers, butt plugs, etc. it literally puts money in their pocket.
Actually, they dont even need to do that. If they want to crush out butts in this country, all they need to do is ban the Chemical Additive that keeps tobacco burning when it is not being actively smoked. Put it down for a second, and it goes right out. that Chemical is a public safety concern and is directly responsible for the deaths of many smokers that fall asleep with a cigarette.So I say, lets keep tobacco. Natural and safe. My Prediction, sales drop off by 50% in 5 years.
That chemical additive is potassium nitrate, aka saltpeter. Kiss you firecrackers good-bye. No more dynamite either.
Most European cigarettes don't have the additive and go out if you stop puffing for a minute. The same thing happens with premium cigars. In principle the idea of making cigarettes self-extinguishing sounds good, but let's remember the kind of scum we're dealing with here. First they'd demand that cigarettes go out in 60 seconds. A year later, 30. A year or two after that, 15. By the time they're done, the damn things will be made out of asbestos.
Your prediction is silly - if it were done correctly it would have no effect on smoking.
Shelion: Only by activism. I've tried and tried to get smokers motivated to march on capitals, etc, but they just won't do it. Until they will, we can expect more and more of our rights taken away. Also, join the Smoker's Tea Party by buying your smokes on foreign soil. I use yesmoke.com and get my Camel 100's for $14.95 per carton. You can order up to 5 cartons at a time. Spread the word to your addy book. Everyone knows people who smoke. It's time we told the gov where to go! They've been nothing but abusive to smokers and we're just not going to take it anymore. They can live without our tax dollars!
Brat:Some patriot you are. I guess the Constitution only applies to you and what you approve of.
Ever hear of the Boston Tea Party? It was an act of vandalism that we celebrate as an important part of our history. The people who did it are highly regarded as patriots.
They weren't just angry about taxation, but at taxation without representation. When was the last time you heard of any legislation, anywhere, for smokers?
The Tea Party was over a tax of three percent. Three percent! Cigarette taxes are 300%, 400%, 500% and more, and smokers get no representation for their money
Fighting an unjust government is patriotic. If the Boston Tea Party was patriotic, then so is evading cigarettes taxes. This does have the unfortunate side effect of saving up to 80%, but most smokers are willing to live with that inconvenience.
You have a constitutional right to smoke and smell up my air ?
Your air? WTF makes it your air?
Please, if it takes you 18 months to read through a thread and work up a reply, don't trouble yourself.
Sheesh.