Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Kickin the habit 

A government nanny may be meddlesome, but it can make life better for all of us, as a state health survey about smoking demonstrates. . . .

State Rep. Gene Shelby, D-Hot Springs, is considering introducing a bill to raise the tax by 50 cents a pack to pay for a statewide trauma system, which is badly needed. The extra tax would curtail smoking so much that the tax might produce only marginally more revenue for the state than the current levy, but that would be all right. Urge your favorite lawmaker to vote for it.

While you're at it, page your Washington lawmakers -- Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and Representatives Vic Snyder and Marion Berry -- and tell them to support legislation to authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes that hook young blacks.

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