Up In Smoke

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30092491/

Thanks to Ashley dearest for sending me that link.

As some of yall may know, I have a wee bit of a problem with smokers. Mostly thanks to the wonderful allergy to it that I've lovingly carried around with me most of my life.
Now it would be ok with me if smokers sat isolated in a 3' x 3' room and smoked themselves to death without involving themselves in anyone else's lives. It's when they smoke around their kids or while they're pregnant that bothers me. Or how about when I leave class and directly outside any given building the National Smokers' Guild is gathered to welcome me? So not cool.

Now the problem that I mainly have with smokers is obviously the second hand effects. Which this article seems to have overlooked. But it IS good news that we're getting such a profit off the sin tax. Let's keep bumping it up, huh? People will either have to quit and spend their money on a cheaper hobby (knitting? finger painting? solving magic eyes?) or they'll just be giving a lot more money back to society. Which we will eventually turn around and give back to them in the form of a breathing machine and IV.

Also, it's somewhat of a true stereotype that lower class people have a higher tendency to use tobacco. These are also probably the people that can't pay for their medical care when they realize that smoking has some tiny harmful side effects and they find themselves in a hospital bed (paid by you, bee tee dubs).

So here's the deal. You're not gonna stop smoking. I'm not gonna stop whining about it. If you're looking for quicker ways to get cancer you could always smoke in a tanning bed while drinking diet coke and eating veggies covered in pesticides. See what your body gets sick of first. It'll be like Russian roulette. By yourself.