Bend Over Smokers!

I am really hacked off right now. Evidently, there is a very real possibility that the FDA will be regulating tobacco. They will dictate what ingredients go into cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Like your flavored chew? Kiss it goodbye. Menthol cigarettes? Bon voyage!

While I will agree that smoking is not the healthiest thing to do, it is still a legal choice that many adult Americans exercise every day. I am among them. Do I advocate children smoking? Absolutely not. In fact, my children do not like the fact that I smoke. But, they know that as an adult I have that choice.

The smoking Nazis make the argument that smokers are a bigger burden to the healthcare system. Sorry, but I disagree. My husband, a nonsmoker all his life, is in much worse health than I am. My blood pressure has never been high, and I can go on a walk with my hubby and be breathing much easier than he is. The visits to the doctor are far less for me than for my husband and kids. And no, it's not secondhand smoke. I go outside and do not smoke in my car.

Also said is that smokers lose more time at work and dollars are lost due to poor productivity. CRAPOLA! I have worked all my life with smokers and nonsmokers alike. Smokers called off MUCH less than the nonsmokers, and the smokers were more willing to do harder work and longer hours.

When will the government realize that if everyone quit smoking, the tax revenue lost would be staggering? Cigarettes are the most heavily taxed product on the market when you consider the percentage of the price that is some sort of tax. What will be the next product targeted? We saw what happened when they banned alcohol.

Let's agree on one thing: Smoking is not good for you. But in "the land of the free", shouldn't people be able to make that choice for themselves? And let the free market decide what people want to buy, not the FDA.

Smoke 'em while you got 'em!!!