Smoking As Fun and Death

WHEN I WAS NINE YEARS OLD, in 1964, the surgeon general issued the first government warning about cigarettes. I, being gullible and impressionable, took their world for it, and to this day have never smoked a cigarette. I'll have to live with the consequences. I grew up in a cloud of second hand smoke. Apparently everyone assumed that once the smoke was out in the open air, it magically became harmless, and kids were immune to it. In those days a major league baseball game was played in a fog, and the smell of cigar smoke was ambient, as baseball fans of a certain age will recall. I watched my Yankees play shrouded in smoke, and didn't mind, since I knew of no alternative. I lived in a house filled with smoke; mom and dad, and everybody else in America, thought nothing of it. I remember thinking cigarette ads on TV were sexy. a full minute of pretty girls smiling seductively while smoke belched from their noses, handsome cowboys riding into the sunset (of their lives) looking strong, the announcer declaring that he would walk a mile for a Camel, and that Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should. it is not difficult for me to comprehend that in the nineteen twenties smoking was promoted for its health benefits. In the nineteen sixties it was all about sex and self esteem. In all the movies, the cool people smoked, and in all the television shows, likewise. Finally, with people dropping like flies, ciggie advertising on TV was banned, and dire warnings began to appear on packs. At the time, a pack of cigs cost forty five cents. Requiring a business to place warnings on its product about the ill health potential of the product is highly questionable from the standpoint of free enterprise, the first amendment, self incrimination, and government overreach. There are, however, extenuating circumstances. An activity which kills four hundred thousand people every year and costs hundreds of billions in medical expenses, it can be reasonably argued, merits government intervention. Of all the smokers who harm their health and the health of others, few can pay for all the medical expenses. The rest of us do, including non smokers. Classic economic theory holds that the free market works well when everyone behaves rationally. smoking, it can be argued, is not rational behavior. Over the years tobacco companies have been required to put ever more dire warnings on their packaging. May be hazardous to your health has become will kill certainly kill you. Tobacco companies have been hounded for decades by local, state and federal governments, forced to pay hundreds of billions of dollars in punitive damages. and yet, nothing seems to work. people still smoke, although in far fewer numbers, fortunately. Now, after an eleven year court battle, tobacco companies will be forced to condemn themselves on television, using frightening language. That won't help much either. There is nothing new to tell us at this point. Tobacco companies have for decades spiked their punch, adding addictive ingredients, and have lied about it. Their harsh treatment by government can be seen as justice long delayed. We have forced them into attempting corporate suicide, and still they endure, by transferring sales to China. The lesson we have learned is one we already knew; that people cannot be prevented from killing themselves, especially if they are doing it by having a good time.