by Anthony Megna

Created on: May 08, 2008   Last Updated: January 04, 2012

It seems quite plain that smokers already bear their own health risks of smoking. Should mountain climbers bear the risk of climbing mountains? What if they get stuck? There are penalties put in place in some states that force the rescued to pay up should they need professional services. Should fishermen bear the risk of boating? How far are we going to take this argument? We live in America, the land of the free the last time I checked. Should alcohol drinkers bear the risk of imbibing? Well, the answer to these questions is that they already do. If you get caught drinking and driving the penalties are severe. Loss of license, financial burdens, maybe jail time. Risk is an inherent part of life.

Another example are casinos. Assume for a moment that your community passes a law allowing full fledged Las Vegas style casino gambling in your district. Are the casinos responsible for the small minority that may get addicted to gambling? Smoking is the right of every person living in the United States that is of age to partake. Yes, we all know about the big tobacco companies adding nicotine which can cause addiction. That is true, and they have paid big fines for this deplorable action. However, people smoked long, long before this and the medical community is still doing studies on smoking.

What I don't understand are the people who live into their nineties and hundreds that still smoke and have been doing so since they were very young. If cigarettes kill, how can these people have lived such a long life? What about the french? So many of them smoke, eat rich foods, and are quite healthy. Before we condemn the tobacco industry, and lord knows they have been the target of a lot of venom, we should be damn sure we have all the facts. Secondhand smoke is a joke. Every person exposed to smoke is going to die early? Come on! There isn't one documented case of this happening! Why don't we look at car pollution and other particles in our air first.

I am very troubled by the hypocrisy out there. I don't like people smoking when I eat out, as most people don't. Trying to section off an area doesn't work. It is okay that they banned cigarettes in most restaurants. But in bars? Please. Alcohol and cigarettes go together just fine, thank you. And if you work as a bartender and don't like smoke, you joined the wrong business.

People who smoke run risks. So don't people who drive fast, people who drink, people who cheat on their spouse, and on and on. It is up to the individual to be responsible enough to weigh the consequences of the actions they take. That is what being an adult is all about.

If our soldiers who are fighting overseas and put they're lives on the line want a smoke after an intense battle, am I going to schoolmarm them to death about smoking? Come on. And anyone that does should try fighting in a war. Talk about risk!

No, smokers bear enough responsibility without people ranting and raving about health risks. Our freedom is at stake, and every day that goes by it seems there is another law and another complaint that we can or can't do what we want without hurting anybody. It makes one want to colonize another planet real quick.

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