As of Tuesday June 03, 2008 New York state had the highest cigarette taxes in the nation. Seems like a pact with the devil… or the perfect marriage between corporate profits and state revenues. Meanwhile, more than 30 other states, including Vermont, have enacted laws banning smoking in certain publicly-accessible places like bars, restaurants, and workplaces. Over 4000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, many of which are toxic and/or carcinogenic. Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia are all present in cigarette smoke. Forty-three known carcinogens are in mainstream smoke, sidestream smoke, or both. The list of 599 additives approved by the US Government for use in the manufacture of cigarettes is something every smoker should see.
“Once upon a time, the rich, sweetly pungent smoke of tobacco offered more than dreary old diseases like emphysema and lung cancer. It promised sophistication, sex appeal, even longevity itself. This nostalgic site is powered by the white-hot bitterness of long-term Nicotine withdrawal.”
So what does this have to do with September 11? Seven years ago almost 3,000 people died in the collapse of the Twin Towers. The image of those former towers reminds me of a pair of cigarettes, in both a literal and a figurative manner. They each represent the number of people, 1,500 who continue to die EVERY DAY from smoking-related illness. Where’s the outrage?
