I've been cheering several initiatives covered by local news media recently — Albany creating tobacco-free zones in city parks; Crossgates mall's plans to go tobacco-free; and the introduction of a local ordinance to end the sale of tobacco in pharmacies. In the midst of these public health initiatives, I keep hearing the same tired old arguments in opposition: (1) tobacco is legal; and (2) government intervention is "going too far."
Yes, tobacco is legal for people older than 18. But that's largely due to the tobacco industry's long history of acting in bad faith by misleading the public about the health risks of smoking, marketing aggressively to youth and manipulating the product to make it more addictive. To watch them now use this ill-earned legal status as justification to defend against further restrictions is the height of arrogance.
Government regulates all kinds of potentially dangerous yet legal products including alcohol, guns and prescription drugs. And rightly so. Yet the "correct" use of tobacco kills more people than are killed by the misuse of all the others combined. The tobacco industry spends obscene amounts of money every day to convince us otherwise. I don't think we can afford to let the tobacco industry do our thinking for us.
Free tobacco site: www.freetobacco.info
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