Tobacco.org

WHITE: Americans must finally kick tobacco habit 

This is a great country, but we're not perfect, and tobacco is a prime example of many of our flaws.

In order for us to produce tobacco, many American Indians lost their lands and their lives, many Africans lost their freedom and their heritage, and the land itself was overused until much of it could no longer support agriculture. . . .

Since starting my training more than 30 years ago, I have participated in the care of more than 10,000 critically ill infants. Many of those kids were born early or ill because of maternal tobacco use; some died, and hundreds more lived with permanent disabilities linked to exposure to tobacco. . . .

Proposed legislation in Indiana and other state legislatures could help, but more needs to be done. It is wrong for our health care institutions to hold investments in tobacco companies. It is wrong for 401K and other self-directed investments to have no options available to individuals who would like to place their money into a tobacco-free fund, or more generally, into socially responsible investing. Our government should help -- it was complicit in many of the tobacco industry's misdeeds for more than 200 years, so there is still a lot of work to be done to replace that history with one that protects the innocents and our land.

As a society, it is time for us to kick this ugly, dirty and addictive scourge. Otherwise, aren't we as guilty as our forefathers in passing it on as an inheritance to our children?

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