Saturday, November 15, 2014

The Cancer of Cigarettes

A whole generation of Americans is dying or suffering with cigarette-caused ailments, and the world pretty much ignores their plight.  My parents smoked as teenagers.  It was the thing to do.  Cigarettes were touted in commercials in the 1950's as not only safe, but healthy.  Tobacco companies made billions and billions of dollars by addicting kids, who smoked throughout their lives until they sickened and died from debilitating and painful illnesses.

My father and my mother were both addicted to cigarettes, with my dad dying at age 59.  My mother quit smoking in her early 40's, but now in her 80's she struggles with debilitating COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), continually tethered to a tank of oxygen and struggling to walk more than just a few feet.

There have been some successful lawsuits against tobacco companies, but they are just a drop in the bucket of the vast stores of money these immoral corporations accumulate.  Americans don't smoke as much today as they did 50 years ago, so tobacco companies have addicted unsuspecting smokers in third world countries.  Rather than go under as I had hoped because of the downturn in profits, these giant corporations with their vast stores of money simply diversified and purchased food companies, buying Nabisco and other companies with piles of money from their ill-gotten gains.

There is no good result from nicotine addiction.  There are no health or societal benefits to smoking, outside of farmers who can sell a "cash crop" to alleviate their financial struggles.  Yet, we have rewarded these companies and the people who own them.  Alcohol, which can be destructive, can also have some health benefits.  In centuries past, water was unsafe.  Fermenting fruit juice saved lives.  Not so with tobacco.  Yet we do way too little to regulate this vile industry.

Every day I watch my mother struggle for a breath.  She thought when she quit smoking in the 1970's that she could reverse the consequences of the noxious habit.  I thought she could, too.  But, even though she quit 40 years ago, it was too late.  

Think of the billions of dollars the cigarette industry has caused in medical bills which they do not pay.  Think of the cancers and heart diseases and lung diseases that their products have caused, for which they do not pay.  Think of the suffering of the addicted tobacco users and their families, for which they do not pay.  The companies get richer, while their victims sicken and die.

When a 12 or 13 year old begins smoking, he or she is not competent to commit to a life of cigarette-related suffering.  We have to do more to make these evil companies pay for what they have done. So far, these businesses and their shareholders have profited from a product which causes death and horrible illness.  They get rich, while the unsuspecting, immature smokers end up dying from their childish misadventure.

I grew up in a house filled with smoke and full ashtrays.  Everyone I knew of my parents' generation smoked.  Most have horribly suffered as a consequence.  And the companies just get richer.

9 comments:

  1. I think its kinda funny, a scumbag attorney talking about the ill gotten gains of the tobacco industry. Everyday scumbag attorneys sue companies and individuals just to make a buck. You wanna talk about ill gotten gains start with your profession before you cast stones at others.

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    1. So, Mr. Or Ms. 12:04, what is your occupation? Are you willing to identify yourself? Thanks for reading my blog and taking the time to post.

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  2. 1204 am doesn't know what types of cases this blogger takes.

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    1. 1204 am doesn't care what type of cases this blogger takes. If Phillip Morris called this blogger tomorrow to represent them, this blogger would. It's not just this attorney its all attorneys. An attorney can claim to take a stand against any cause you or they choose. If money comes along that goes against that cause said attorney would take that money. I am also glad that fewer people are smoking, but that wasn't my point now was it. I notice your only complaint was that I didn't know what type of cases this blogger takes and not anything else that was said about scumbag attorneys. Maybe because deep down you know that what was said is true.

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  3. This is a valuable post--would that more people understood. I'm glad that fewer people are smoking, but these companies still have blood on their hands. And Missouri has the lowest tax on cigarettes. We have to change that.

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  4. Anonymous at 12:04 seems to be deliberately provoking a fight. Perhaps they lost their last legal case.

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    1. No legal case was lost. I just see how crappy attorneys have made this country. BTW, I found this blog by typing why do lawyers suck into the google machine. If you look at damn near every problem in this country I bet it wouldnt take long to trace it back to where some attorney had their hands on it. So that is my problem. Not a lost legal case. As far as picking a fight goes, if typing the truth is picking a fight, then I guess that's it. Also what does my occupation have to do with anything? Do only certain occupations hate attorneys? Those last two are for Lynne.

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  5. Lynne, how do explain the juxtaposition of a successful crackdown on tobacco over the last 25 years, versus the liberalization of marijuana laws currently under way?
    If it was important for health reasons to expose the truth about smoking tobacco, then why are states and federal government decriminalizing pot? Is it just for the tax revenue?

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