Do you realize that if just one other pesky little illegal substance (marijuana) were legalized, packaged and taxed like cigarretes, the revenue would wipe out the federal trade deficit in 5 years?!?! Not to mention the money saved on law enforcement, etc.
But the real underlying issues are personal responsibility and the governments infringement on your right to personal choice.
If you choose (like me) to light a few cigarettes a day, that means you\’re choosing to ignore those very OBVIOUS warning labels and proven side effects (like lung cancer), and ASSUME THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR CHOICE! As another person commented, nobody is making you do it. The same can be said about mandatory seat belt laws. Don\’t wear it, be my guest, but don\’t cry when you\’re tossed from your vehicle in a collision.
On limitations of personal choice, it is not the governments responsibility to protect me from myself. That particular realm of responsibility falls squarely on my shoulders. Make the other \”dangerous\” products legal. Let those who choose to partake of them do so. Just hold them responsible for the consequences of their actions, and save the government intervention for areas that impact the welfare of the general public as a whole.
And to whoever said that cigarettes are defective…give me a break. Until I see one that does tricks, or doesn\’t burn, they are working exactly the way they\’re supposed to.
I could not agree more. I too am a smoker, and I tend to not wear my seatbelt all the time. I take full responsibility for all these actions…including any consequences inherent in ordering HOT coffee from a drive through facility. I do think that the tobacco industry should be required to sell what it is that they say they are selling. Tobacco. Not tobacco laced with a mix of chemicals meant to increase the addictive effect of nicotine.
Personally, I\’d rather see them make the green weed legal and the brown weed illegal. I\’ve long said that a regulated legalization would eliminate our national debt in 5-10 years. But I bet the glaucoma drug lobby would have a fit about that. But think about all the increased revenue the junk food industry would realize…
I still don\’t understand how the dollar amounts are attached to these verdicts. Either way my man is dead and the government pockets $20M in taxes from the settlement.
PM will cut the check and someone else will die of smoking related lung cancer in a half hour.
I notice a general concensus here to place blame with the government!! WHY? Uncle Sam wasn\’t responsible for making this guy smoke two packs a day. In fact, it was the govenment that made the tobacco companies put the warning labels on the cigarettes in the first place. So if anything, they have reduced their liability with respect to this issue.
What good does it do to give an award that large. Someone said that the gov\’t is going to pocket $20 mill in taxes! How about the lawyers that are gonna get the other $20 mill!! I dont here anybody blaming them for thier greed!! This entire tobacco lawsuit situation is retarded. If you choose to smoke and you know the concequences of your action, then I say your on your own!!!
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It\’s all about who has the better lobby.
Do you realize that if just one other pesky little illegal substance (marijuana) were legalized, packaged and taxed like cigarretes, the revenue would wipe out the federal trade deficit in 5 years?!?! Not to mention the money saved on law enforcement, etc.
But the real underlying issues are personal responsibility and the governments infringement on your right to personal choice.
If you choose (like me) to light a few cigarettes a day, that means you\’re choosing to ignore those very OBVIOUS warning labels and proven side effects (like lung cancer), and ASSUME THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR CHOICE! As another person commented, nobody is making you do it. The same can be said about mandatory seat belt laws. Don\’t wear it, be my guest, but don\’t cry when you\’re tossed from your vehicle in a collision.
On limitations of personal choice, it is not the governments responsibility to protect me from myself. That particular realm of responsibility falls squarely on my shoulders. Make the other \”dangerous\” products legal. Let those who choose to partake of them do so. Just hold them responsible for the consequences of their actions, and save the government intervention for areas that impact the welfare of the general public as a whole.
And to whoever said that cigarettes are defective…give me a break. Until I see one that does tricks, or doesn\’t burn, they are working exactly the way they\’re supposed to.
I could not agree more. I too am a smoker, and I tend to not wear my seatbelt all the time. I take full responsibility for all these actions…including any consequences inherent in ordering HOT coffee from a drive through facility. I do think that the tobacco industry should be required to sell what it is that they say they are selling. Tobacco. Not tobacco laced with a mix of chemicals meant to increase the addictive effect of nicotine.
Personally, I\’d rather see them make the green weed legal and the brown weed illegal. I\’ve long said that a regulated legalization would eliminate our national debt in 5-10 years. But I bet the glaucoma drug lobby would have a fit about that. But think about all the increased revenue the junk food industry would realize…
worth $50M again?
I still don\’t understand how the dollar amounts are attached to these verdicts. Either way my man is dead and the government pockets $20M in taxes from the settlement.
PM will cut the check and someone else will die of smoking related lung cancer in a half hour.
Life goes on.
I notice a general concensus here to place blame with the government!! WHY? Uncle Sam wasn\’t responsible for making this guy smoke two packs a day. In fact, it was the govenment that made the tobacco companies put the warning labels on the cigarettes in the first place. So if anything, they have reduced their liability with respect to this issue.
What good does it do to give an award that large. Someone said that the gov\’t is going to pocket $20 mill in taxes! How about the lawyers that are gonna get the other $20 mill!! I dont here anybody blaming them for thier greed!! This entire tobacco lawsuit situation is retarded. If you choose to smoke and you know the concequences of your action, then I say your on your own!!!