Jump to full article: National Public Radio (NPR), 2009-06-24
Author: Frank James
Intro: On this day when President Barack Obama signed historic legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco, Two-Way reader Shannon Bryony (bryony1) posted a comment I wanted to highlight. Shannon wrote:
I've been smoking since I was conceived. Both my parents smoked, my mother throughout the pregnancy. In those days, the late '40s and early '50s, no one knew it could kill you, except the tobacco industry, and they weren't telling.
So advertising had no effect on me. Mu (sic) parents were the "best" ad I could have had. But who knew? . . .
Was it worth it to me? I have to be honest. Yes. Unfortunately, not for my friends.
It's striking how rationally Shannon accepted what's sounds essentially like a Faustian bargain.
In exchange for what I'm assuming were the pleasures of smoking for so many years, Shannon is willing to trade good health. That sort of exchange might not make sense to many people, but in a free society adults are allowed to choose even when their choices are pernicious to themselves.
But here's the problem with tobacco, especially when you start using it as a child. It's a point Obama made today. Because of smoking's addictive power, you may not be able to make an adult choice. . . .
That's why it's so important to deter children from taking up the habit in the first place.
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