Scott R. Sullivan

June 14th, 2008 by Scott

Pennsylvania just passed a ban on smoking in most public places. It also imposed a $1,000 fine for offenders. They did this in the name of public health. Who can argue with that?

Now I’ve never smoked in my life. A few of my friends do. Most of them do not.

I am not going to dispute the harm of smoking. I know it is bad.

The problem is that congress knows it is bad for you, too. Yet, they tax it so much that they are making HUGE profits from someone’s addiction and unhealthy habit. How is it ethical to profit off of someone else’s cancer?

To me, there is one answer. Congress is just as addicted. Except they are addicted to the money they rake in from this poison.

Ethically, congress had only two options.

Option one, get rid of all cigarette taxes, thus getting rid of blood money. I’m all for congress reducing taxes in any form.

Option two, ban cigarettes altogether. Classify it along with Cocaine or Heroin and make it illegal. If tobacco is as bad as congress says it is, why don’t they just ban it all instead of doing this wimpy “no smoking here or here, but there is okay.”

Personally, I don’t care which option they take.

So the question is: Congress, can you kick your own addiction?