Editor,
Oh well, I guess Editor in Chief Angela Williams is right. We're all going to die anyway, damn it. I guess we shouldn't do anything about second-hand smoke or tobacco or the tobacco companies, because they have too much money anyway and it just doesn't really matter.
I mean, Ms. Williams is right - a lot of non-smokers don't put on sunscreen. I mean, come on. If they're going to talk about the dangers of tobacco, then they should at least talk about skin cancer and how 72 people died of shark attacks last year, and how 45 people died from refrigerators falling on top of them. These are the real issues, aren't they? How about some reality? There is no social problem on the face of the earth that can be compared to tobacco. It's in its own separate category and anyone that tries to pit it against other problems that face us simply looks ignorant. The most destructive product ever invented for consumers is the cigarette.
Tobacco companies are more deceptive and dirty than Enron and Worldcom combined. Tobacco executives laugh in our faces every day. Hardly any of them use their own product either. They know that they have to recruit children to stay in business, because your mom or dad or grandma is almost assuredly not going to wake up tomorrow and decide to smoke. Oh yeah, and they lose thousands of their customers every day - because they die.
Tobacco addiction is the greatest cause of disease and death in our society, killing more than 400,000 Americans each year. One in every five deaths is attributed to tobacco addiction. In addition, secondhand smoke kills more than 50,000 innocent victims each year. You won't read that in Ms. Williams editorial. You'll just read about how it's worse to stand next to a bus inhaling exhaust fumes. She's even wrong about that, too.
If you think you don't need to worry about tobacco, at least think of the $50 billion in tax-payer money that will be spent on health care this year so that smokers can light up. Ms. Williams says the tobacco companies are too powerful to do anything about. That might be true if this were 1982. The Clinton administration was the first to take on Big Tobacco without regard to political gain. They won. Back in the '80s no one would have ever imagined that the tobacco companies would have their backs against the wall. Billboard advertisements - banned. Cigarette vending machines - banned. Advertisements in magazines that cater to young people - banned. Billion dollar settlements with all 50 states for the tax-payer related costs of sick and dying smokers -a reality. Now, the FDA is deciding whether or not to regulate all tobacco.
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Ms. Williams is right. There are many things in the world that affect our health. There are some that deserve more attention to be sure. Our water and air quality are extremely important. Neglecting it has consequences that go on after we leave. However, anti-smoking advocates are also concerned with the quality of air and water. Tobacco addiction is too big a social problem to shove under the carpet.
Tobacco reforms are too important to be trivialized the way Ms. Williams has done in her editorial.
Damon Scott
UNM alumnus
Editor's Note: A reminder that all letters to the editor must be 500 words or less or they will not be published.
