Tobacco.org

MERCER: We've really come a long way now 

Once or twice during my freshman year in college, my roommate's father brought me a carton of luxury British cigarettes.

Thrilled by the elegant boxes, I smoked the cigarettes with gusto. Today, that would be like someone's dad randomly picking wild mushrooms in the woods, carrying them to the dorm and saying, "Here, these look great. They may be deadly, but eat up." . . .

But it's a sign of how far we've come that usually anti-regulation Republicans back tobacco regulation. Here's Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas: "One might ask, as a conservative: Why would one support more regulation rather than less? Well, because of this split personality the federal government has in dealing with tobacco -- recognizing it is a deadly drug, recognizing marketing often targets the most vulnerable among us, and recognizing the fact that it kills so many people and increases our health care costs not only in Medicare but in Medicaid … ."

Despite all the education about the dangers of smoking, lung cancer kills more women than any other form of cancer, including breast cancer. I finally quit smoking for good about 1995. No ad or cool British packaging could tempt me now. My friend Laurie wasn't so lucky. She and I both loved smoking, and we puffed through many a late-night dorm discussion of poetry and politics. Lung cancer claimed her at 52.

When I see a smoker, I see someone who just hasn't quit yet.

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