Now I’ve Started Smoking Again
I thought it would never happen again. Hell’s Bells… I *PRAYED* it would never happen again. But the Obama administration has done what I thought was impossible. Some time ago I quit smoking cigarettes. It’s a terrible habit. It was shortening my life. It was driving away my friends. It smells bad. It’s just awful. But as of 3 pm this afternoon, I have news for you, President Obama. I’ll give up all of the money I was spending on green veggies, victory gardens, compact fluorescent light bulbs and napkins made from recycled paper. And I’m spending it all ON MARLBOROS BABY!
(CBS/AP) The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in America Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco and to ban flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people.
President Barack Obama, who has spoken of his own struggle to quit smoking, said he was eager to sign the legislation, and the House planned a vote for Friday.
Here’s your smoking law, my friend. This is one bridge too far. Smoking is awful, but we’ll pick our own good and bad habits, thank you. Light up, boys. I’ll now be “patriotic” and pay my taxes at a rate of approximately 65 dollars per carton in New York out of the 70 dollars they charge. (The rest is all “sin tax” to pay for all of their other insane spending, while claiming they want people to smoke less, while the ones they harm the most are the poor.)
Smoke’em if ya got’em!
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23 Responses to “Now I’ve Started Smoking Again”
Admittedly, I haven't read much about this yet. But you're mad because the government is going to gain the power to limit the amount of nicotine (the addictive component to cigarettes, I'm told), curtail tobacco ads, and ban flavored tobacco products?
I don't see anything that says they're going to prohibit anyone from smoking who really wants to. In fact, the link you provided says the FDA could limit the nicotine yield, but can not ban nicotine or cigarettes.
I don't see how this is impacting anyone's ability to smoke cigarettes.
Well, truth be told, I had two cigarettes and almost vomited, so I stopped again, but I still don't want the government sticking their nose in it the affair.
Good for you, Jazz. I'm actually fine with them making them disclose what in the cigarettes, but they want to take away my Marlboro lights. That's gonna piss me off dun good.
The government shouldn't outlaw tobacco or smoking, but they should do everything they can to decrease smoking, because smoking KILLS PEOPLE.
Just another step towards nanny-state living brought to you compliments of your Komrade Kongress.
I may actually come to enjoy acquiring contraband level cigarettes as much as I have acquiring Habanas for the past 20 years.
By the way, Jazz, keep up the rebellious Yankee spirit here and I'll line you up to score your cartons for half that David Patterson price.
If congress passed a law requiring safety fencing around all outdoor pools to help save children from drowning, some people would not only ignore the law, but begin hanging candy over the deep end.
Then why would you allow your children to come into my yard, Ethos? Mine are smart enough to not require a fence.
See what I mean? Very young children can and do die because people carry this sort of mentality. Is it really a big deal to ask people be harbor a minimum of community responsibility to those living around them by installing a barrier against needless drowning?
Apparently so. Truly the level of pure spitefulness is astounding.
It's dumb to start smoking again because you don't like a law that congress passed. How childish.
I submit the lack of reponsible parenting of young children is astounding if they require their neighbors to mind the safety of their children.
Yes, because we all know that kids never sneak out of sight of even the most diligent parent and accidents never happen in this world.
They probably should require really big fences around all yards, that would solve it.
Oh please, people. The tobacco industry paid big bucks to keep tobacco–clearly a drug–from being regulated as a drug, for over 50 years. Hell, it's even in the dietary supplement legislation, handing over regulation of all herbs *except tobacco* to the FDA. Every other consumable except tobacco and alcohol has to disclose what's in it. What's wrong with that? A law that hands regulation of a drug over to drug regulatory officials is not a ban. Geez. Calm down. Have a cigarette.
GD — Agreed, I just think it's silly to take away the “light” cigarettes until they can “proove” (which of course they can't) that they're less harmful than standard cigs.
roro; I suspect “lights” will be labeled something like “light flavor” and carry a warning (which they already do) that “light” doesn't mean less toxic.
Oh I know, I'm just b'in and moanin'. I'm thinking an awesome color scheme, actually. Like Red=standard, gold = lights, silver = ultra lights, green = menthol, brown = milds. So you'd go up to the liquor store dude and say “I'll have a pack of golds, please”.
“Just another step towards nanny-state living brought to you compliments of your Komrade Kongress.”
This was a long-sought-by-liberals victory (notably sought during the Clinton years). The public is preoccupied with the economy (and the extra-exploitable people, by the Obama traveling health care campaign, with local-group visits supplemented by the first campaign “town hall” by the Chief himself), and I doubt there will be an outcry about this, either in celebration or in alarm.
Much worse is the creeping fascism we're seeing not only in banking but with the taken-over Detroit dinosaurs, notably GM. We're in serious trouble if a “pay czar” extends his or her authority over other parts of the private sector or if businesses are given other forms of direction or involvement by the federal government in the months to come. This disturbing development overshadows not only the long-sought Victory Over Tobacco, but the openly transparent devious-incrementalist move toward federal health care.
“So you'd go up to the liquor store dude”
Oh, no. Just ask Jazz Shaw — instead, you go to the right “source” or “connection” at the Indian reservation Upstate somewhere, or over the line in Ontario or Quebec. (It's _that_ defiance that would motivate Democrats to seal the border with _Canada_ in the name of “immigration reform”!)
“They probably should require really big fences around all yards [to satisfy the demands of the _truly_ childish people, that is], that would solve it.”
Especially in the East with its higher population and many unfenced yards — why that's it! Let's have the feds require and _build_ those fences!
*** STIMULUS SPENDING MEASURE ***
And the Dems could demand identity-politics quotas for, and unionization of, the work force, too!
(And build such fences along our borders with Mexico and Canada and around all the Indian reservations to prevent smuggling of cheap contraband tobacco products.)
“acquiring Habanas”
Leave it to the lib-Dems in Congress once more to screw up any future Cuba-policy-reform measures…
“I still don't want the government sticking their nose in it the affair.”
That's the real problem here. Add to it, likely additional (future) incompetence.
Regulating it and even putting a realistic tax on it (if it wasn't high enough to encourage evasion, taxes that were rational in that they covered much or all of the additional health care and other costs that are truly attributable to tobacco use), okay. But these are the same people that are subjecting us all to their perverse motives as well as ways with the Detroit dinosaurs, after all…
Any of you guys on oxygen yet? But of course you will be Medicare age and expect the nanny government to take care of your bills. Still, being on oxygen is not pleasant. But maybe that's just me.
Skylights: “The government shouldn't outlaw tobacco or smoking, but they should do everything they can to decrease smoking, because smoking KILLS PEOPLE.”
Who is the government? You, me, my neighbor and all the neighbors in the U.S. are the government. Now if you want your neighbors passing laws telling you how you should live your life, fine. On the other hand, if you want your neighbors to stay the hell out of your life, then that's something else again. If the government has any information that would help me to make my own decision, fine. But when the government tries to force my behavior with legislation and higher taxes, then the smell of a fascist society is in the air. First nanny, then Nurse Ratched. Next comes black boots on the pavement.