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Jump to full article: The Washington Post, 2009-08-11
Intro: "Packing a Heavier Warning" [Aug. 4] made me wonder if we have our priorities straight in this country. I'm amazed the federal government and surgeon general are putting so much effort into tobacco warnings while seeming to look the other way when it comes to stronger alcohol regulation. . . .
why are breweries, wineries and distilleries allowed to push their products on TV if tobacco companies are not? Would you rather have your kids attend a party where booze is served or an alcohol-free party where smoking is permitted? How many brawls have been started because someone had too much to smoke?
There isn't a "lesser of two evils" here. Until someone thinks a Smokers Anonymous group is necessary, beer, wine and liquor should be taxed and regulated to the same degree as tobacco products.
In the past six months or so, thousands of smokers have stopped inhaling tar, particulates and numerous chemical additives in tobacco smoke. Instead, they are inhaling smokeless vaporized nicotine from electronic cigarettes to help them quit. You would expect organizations such as the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association to be overjoyed. But they are pressuring the Food and Drug Administration to pull these products off the market, claiming they have not been proven safe and effective.
Their claims are in contrast to the more than 12,300 people who have signed the online "Electronic Cigarette Petition" asking the FDA to keep these products available.
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