Saturday, November 15, 2008

A little confused IMO

saw a commercial earlier talking about the tobacco industry and how corrupted they are...and I'm sure you know the type I am talking about. It got me thinking.
Granted, I realized that Smoking is directly linked to several terminal diseases, BUT the smoker is very aware of this fact every time they put a cigarette in their mouth. They are choosing to put themselves at risk. I personally dont like smoking, I think its kind of nasty. I dont smoke and never will and I am not advocating smoking in any way. I guess what I am concerned about is why we are going after the tobacco industry and not the alcohol industry. Here are some FACTS:
~More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year. Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke.
~Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for persons aged 6–33. About 45% of these fatalities are in alcohol-related crashes.4~Alcohol kills 6½ times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined.2
These are just a few. I could post page after page of statistics. Drunk drivers kill or seriously injure thousands of people every year. People on their way home from church, or a soccer game with their kids or even just a quick run to the store. They kill men, women, children, even unborn babies. All of which had no idea they were at risk, none of which ever guessed that day would be their last all due to someone's irresponsibility. Yet, All we do is post bill boards saying "dont drink and drive".
There are men (and some women) who go out and get drunk and come home and beat their children and spouses. People who when they arent drunk arent monsters, but turn in to one when alcohol becomes a factor. Yet, we do nothing and have commercial after commercial promoting beer, and liquor. We have entire establishments devoted to selling this drug.
There are people who have literally lost EVERYTHING, jobs, homes, families, because of this addiction and yet we continue to make it more and more accessible.
I have never heard of someone driving down the wrong side of the interstate is killing a family because they had one too many cigarettes.
I have never heard of some one going home and beating the snot out of their kids and spouse because they went out and smoke a couple cigarettes with the guys.
I have never heard of someone losing everything all because they couldnt break the nicotine addiction.
Yet society has gone on a mission to eliminate smoking but do nothing but a few PSA's on alcohol abuse and drunk driving. It seems to me that we have it backwards. I am not talking a Prohibition again. But what about not making it so accessible that teen age KIDS are drinking and end up dead or killing someone else because they were irresponsible? Why do we continue to be ok with innocent people being killed because someone else had no self control?
Like I said before, I am not advocating smoking in any way. And I know what it can do to a person..I have lost 2 family members to lung cancer and emphysema. But I have also lost several to alcohol and drunk driving. Isn't time we woke up to reality here?

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