Why they're cracking down on smoking

My first post so be gentle.
I am a smoker and aside from the obvious dangers of smoking, why the big shakedown from the government, media, and insurance agencies? If I want to keep smoking my insurance is now going to charge me an extra 62 dollars a month. There are alot of other bad habits, why this one, why not obesity, alcoholism, even driving to fast and unprotected sex has it's share of dangers.
Then one night while watching history channel and reading on ATS, the pieces started to come together. ALIENS! Its fairly obvious some kind of cover-up has been goin on since the 50's, and due to our fear based news media that portrays America as a warzone. People are staying inside more isolating themselves and not getting to know their own neighbors. Why? So that when your neighbor under goes behavioral mind control by the 'government allied aliens', no one will notice. Smoking affects the brain differently than the other habits.
Alcohol probably increases the effects of mind control, especially when combined with the floride in the water, RBGH in the milk and "whoknowswhat" in our meat and crops. Obesity keeps a person at home more, due to lack of energy and not being able to get a date. And unprotected sex provides more disease spread for media fear mongering and teen pregnancies for more mind controlled slaves.
I don't see other countries trying so hard to get people to quit smoking. A chinese company just came out with a cell phone that looks like and is the size of a pack of cigarettes and holds ten of them.I guess thats just part of our abounding freedom here in the states, government controlled personal habits. Does anyone else think that we are becoming more and more a police state, with each new law passed?
So keep smokin' America, or the government will start focusing on that thing you do in the shower.

I'll try and be gentle with this one...

Your insurance costs you more because smokers are much more likely to get sick - smoking causes over 90% of lung cancers. If you've ever seen a loved one die a slow and demeaning death from lung cancer and the care involved, you'll understand that.

Other governments are indeed cracking down on smoking as much in the States, just read the international news more. France, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia... There's a huge international movement against smoking.

I know what you mean by people not getting to know their neighbours. I think that's a sad thing, especially when people die in their own homes and aren't discovered for months, or even years. I don't think that has to do with mind control though. Although, our consumer-based society is taught early to be very competitive and to only care about yourself.

Since the 50s? Take a look at smoking ads from the 50s. Even doctors were promoting smoking as being a healthy habit. The PR and advertising world at the time convinced everyone en masse that it was the in-thing to do.

[edit on 27-2-2008 by mattguy404]

reply to post by NomadicCorpse


It's more "Big brother must protect you from everything."
Which ticks me off in a supposedly free country.
But now we have whole rooms of smokers that CAN'T light up because a non-smoker might show up.

Free my butt!

This brought a smile to my face. I am a smoker too which is not very popular nowadays. My "excuse" is that I don't have any other vices - don't drink, am pretty healthy, not obese, don't do drugs - so leave me alone to enjoy my one unhealthy habit!! They are cracking down in my country too on those smoking. As an example, a pack of 20 Marlboro regular cost R5.50 (approx $0.87) in 1997 and now costs R19.00 (approx $2.50). We are also no longer allowed to smoke in any public building and any smoking area in a restaurant or bar has to be completely separated from the rest of the establishment, with totally separate aircon. They have also now passed legislation which states that nobody is allowed to smoke within 10 metres of an entrance to any building! Oh yes, and the most recent bit of legislation, states that nobody is allowed to smoke in a motor vehicle which is carrying children. I agree with some of the restrictions (like the smoking in a car thing) but the others are just ridiculous!! How many people have gone out and smoked a pack of 30 cigarettes and then gone home and beat up the wife? NONE. How many people have gone out and drank themselves into a bad mood and then gone home and beat up the wife? PLENTY. But nobody seems in the least bit worried about putting warning labels on alcohol (although they have proposed doing this here) or forcing people to pay more insurance if they drink alcohol. Double standards. I don't like it.

I am in the insurance industry. The only reason your rate is much higher then non-smokers because of statistics. Statistics says that smokers have a higher chance of developing diseases, and dying early. So it is not the government but yourself.

reply to post by Equinox99


So why not load the insurance premiums of those who regularly use alcohol? Surely they have a much higher risk of liver damage, amongst other things? Discrimination. That's what it is.

Actually no it is not. The whole thing is based on statistics, it is not that this man smokes so lets anger him by adding a loading. The underwriters follow past statistics to indicate the most deaths among the group.

That is like saying women should get charged the same as young male drivers. Young male drivers have to pay an arm and a leg because statistics show that they have the most accidents, and in fact the most lethal accidents.

Generally I believe it comes down to money and the economy for the government.

Health for most industrialized countries is a big spender. If there is a factor such as smoking which causes the spending of health to go up or the rate of death to go up significantly then of course the government is going to try address the problem, as it should.

Smoking is not the only factor that is being addressed as alcoholism and obesity are also being "looked into" presently by Australia (and I'm sure by other countries as well) and a means to counteract it.

I understand when people say "I should have the right to smoke"... Fair enough. Do you have the right to smoke around other people or children???
What about the right to do other drugs? Some people might say "harder drugs are worse"... Well have a look at the countless studies done and you will see that legalized drugs cause more health and social problems then all the illegal drugs combined.

Developing countries like China who as a nation are huge smokers don’t necessarily have to watch out for decreasing of the population or health care as it is not necessarily paid for by the state. Generally all health care is paid for by the individual.

reply to post by Equinox99


Okay, so you're saying that statistics show that regular alcohol "users" are in the same risk bracket as those who do not drink alcohol at all? I have no problem with paying more for insurance as a smoker, actually, as I am very well aware that most smokers do not look after their health as they should. But my beef is with the fact that those who abuse other substances are not also subject to loaded insurance premiums. Surely they are more likely to have a car accident, or be unhealthy due to the effects of the long term use of alcohol? It seems that there are too many people making huge sums of money off alcohol and this is why they are not trying to reduce alcohol intake even though it is bad for your health (when used excessively - which means more than 1 to 2 glasses wine or similar a day). Just my 2c worth.

Originally posted by LovingSoul
reply to post by Equinox99

 

Okay, so you're saying that statistics show that regular alcohol "users" are in the same risk bracket as those who do not drink alcohol at all? I have no problem with paying more for insurance as a smoker, actually, as I am very well aware that most smokers do not look after their health as they should. But my beef is with the fact that those who abuse other substances are not also subject to loaded insurance premiums. Surely they are more likely to have a car accident, or be unhealthy due to the effects of the long term use of alcohol? It seems that there are too many people making huge sums of money off alcohol and this is why they are not trying to reduce alcohol intake even though it is bad for your health (when used excessively - which means more than 1 to 2 glasses wine or similar a day). Just my 2c worth.

Yes but now you ate mixing 2 way different types of insurances. Many more people die of cancer then alcoholics dying from alcohol.
Source
Cigarette Smoking-Related Mortality (United States, 2001 )
MALE FEMALE Total
Grand Total 240,313 154,194 394,507
*In this table, deaths due to secondhand smoke and fire burn are not included.

Mortality:
SOURCE
Number of alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides: 21,081
Number of alcoholic liver disease deaths: 12,548

Now do you understand why insurance companies have extra loadings to smokers? Much more deatsh compared to accidents, homicides, alcohol etc. On the good note though if you quite for 2 years then your rates go down.



BTW I smoke too and I know how much it is.

they know that many people, if not the majority (don't quote me on that) don't like smoke very much, if at all. me included, tbh. so, some thinktank put two and two together and told their masters that smokers might be worthwhile minority to target, with tacit approval by many otherwise uninvolved people.

so, i think you are right, once smoking has been forced into the underground, they will start banning candy bars and fat and maybe even order us to wear pants under the shower as we all know by now, they will never stop unless someone stops them. btw, watch out for the speed limits to become gradually tighter, until everyone is a speeder -> $$$ in fines and everyone is a criminal at all times. good practice to silence people. ie. you WILL have something, better yet, everything to hide, because they'll construe a way to use it as an excuse for persecution.

I am a former smoker ( Since Jan) It is a struggle everyday not to smoke. Governments all over the world are cracking down on smoking - because they don't want to pay to keep you alive and smoking until you succumb to cancer.

The fact is, smoking does affect your health negatively but I don't need the government telling me that, and in fact I wish they would just stay the hell out of my business. That being said, I'm a bit annoyed that my tax pounds are going to be going towards treating your lung cancer. But then again you're paying for my lifestyle related medical issues so maybe in the end it evens out.

Just get out and enjoy life, before they ban salt, and fluid transfer.

If you havent seen Demolition Man, its a great peek into whats going on today, and what the furture holds Rent it!

www.imdb.com...

its not about insurance, though most people complain about it, and lets face it, insurance companies and their ilk are as corrupt, greedy and power hungry as
the rest. don't even deny it.

The government doesn't really care, as long as they get their tax dollars in. But what we have now is a bunch of whiny liberal do-gooders who think their way is the only way and wishing to foist those beliefs on the rest. so, of course the professional politicians, more interested in reelection and pandering to the mAsses are more than happy to pull crap like this on the rest.

With all the social engineering evident with smoking, and even worse, the brainwashed rhetoric of the masses that buy into this crap. its the new demon, the new evil, and how long until smokers are the new 'n-word'?

yes, I chose my words very carefully, and if you can't get past what that word means, then that's your problem. Go run and scream in a corner like a good little drone.

If the government was serious about it, they'd have made unlawful the sale or production of tobacco long ago. Right now, this is just a compliance test.

Fall in line kids. Your masters decree it.

There are plenty of things people choose to ingest that aren't good for them. Nicotine, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, fiberglass in massive quantities. I think deep down we understand the predicament we're in here, living in pain until our horrible deaths, and subconsciously want to alter our perceptions of reality and shorten our lives as much but as relatively painlessly as possible.

If governments were really interested in getting people to stop smoking, all they would have to do is make it okay for insurance companies to not pay if someone gets cancer or heart disease and it's shown to be a result of smoking. End of story. Oh, sure, there would still be a few daredevils out there. You can't stop people from skiing glaciers, either. But cutting somebody's insurance off would go a long way.

The cigarette companies don't care, as long as the Chinese and the rest of the Asians continue to puff away as if they needed cigarettes to filter every drop of air they breathe. That's what it is. It's the white man trying to kill the yellow man again. This time with cigarettes.

I bet we'll eventually have to pay for those people dying, too. As Lou Reed once sang, "Everybody has to pay and pay."

Originally posted by WraothAscendant
It's more "Big brother must protect you from everything."
Which ticks me off in a supposedly free country.
But now we have whole rooms of smokers that CAN'T light up because a non-smoker might show up.
Free my butt!

Somehow, I don't think you're having any trouble finding a place to light up, any more than you can't find a place to pound back a few boilermakers. And as far as I can see, if Big Brother is on the job, he's pretty lazy about it, since I still see people puffing away. If BB isn't cracking down on dope smokers, which is still actually illegal from what I understand, he's not busting heads over cigarettes.

Let me guess. You're from some state in the southeastern U.S. state. Those folks will fight to suck on those wrinkle sticks, Big Brother or no.

Since it's the Governments who duped us into smoking in the first place, I think they should foot any smoking related bill that rears it's head in our direction.
Or maybe we should all start sueing them under whatever trade descriptions act happens to be in force, or stick 'em all in the slammer for being the drug pushers they are.
Just a few ideas.

reply to post by NomadicCorpse


i honestly dont think its a conspiracy thing at all, its health issues and the cost of thereof and all the funding going into it

i smoke a tabacoo pipe and i dont care what anyone says or whatever

my health insurance justs reminds me all the time that i am a smoker and should stop

im like yeah ok

other than that, i dont know

I am in question of their easoning,my father died of cancer,never smoked a day in his life,my mom started smoking at 13 she lived longer then him died of diabetes,I am a smoker been so for 37 yrs,my lungs are clear I have no health problems ,I think cancer is a genetic thing,btw my dad had 6 brothers none smoked all died of cancer at 73

Smokers should organize and start a religion, form a church then file for tax exemption and become sheltered from discrimination under federal laws. Might even get some scholarships out of it.
Worked for Scientology....