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KULP: Smoking kills  

There have been some complaints to The Telegraph about the statewide ban on smoking in public places. I find that its both fair and unfair, fair because non-smokers can now go into restaurants and bars and not be choked with smoke, and unfair because I can understand the smokers' feeling that it's an intrusion on their freedom. ...

But smokers might be surprised to learn that as early as 1775 doctors were already publishing medical reports, warning that smoking causes cancer. In an era when life spans were short, when it was rare to find people who lived into the sixties, lung cancer would relentlessly kill them. .. .

For hundreds of years, most people knew or suspected that long-term tobacco use was bad. Yet its use is still a protected right...The fact that its toxic effects are not generally felt until the person is old and relatively less useful in society, makes it a perfect drug and a fabulous moneymaker. The cigarettes you smoke for 40 or so years support governments, farmers, retailers, distributors and on and on. They're good for business. Later, as you finally sicken, the medical and pharmaceutical establishments will make money caring for your last days. And nobody forced you do it! Smoking is good for you.

Where did I get all the above? From a book titled "You Said What? Lies and propaganda throughout history." It was compiled by Bill Fawcett and contains 313 sketches. Among them was the one about smoking that got my attention as a longtime former puffer. It was written by E.J. Neiburger whose title "Smoking is Good for You" is a lie that can kill you.

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