Comments on: Nine Days In

By: rubyredshoes

rubyredshoes — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:31:19 +0000

But, I love junk food! If you subscribe to the idea of the tax on cigarettes, I guess this makes sense too.

There is one major difference though. Those foods can be eaten in moderate amounts without fear of causing too many health conditions. Cigarettes, on the other hand, are deadly no matter the amount . So, there really is no benefit whatsoever to cigarettes, while you can get some nutrition from snack foods. I’m glad that a lot of the junk food has been removed from school lunch programs.

With both things though, it comes down to one thing in the end - will power. Almost anything in life can be overdone.

Please don’t tax my Pepsi!

By: meggieli

meggieli — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:30:41 +0000

It is hard to believe that something so deadly is not only legal, but also such a money maker in of all places, the United States. I’m glad my generation knows the effects second hand smoke has, and I’m thankful my little neice has not been subjected to it.
I was thinking though… what about fast foods, soda, junk food in general? Should we put a tax on these items as well? They certainly lead to many diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Should we keep increasing taxes on these items since we know how much the cost of healthcare is after years of “abuse”? Not to mention the costs of band surgery and gastric bypass… These too are preventable causes of death/disease.

By: rubyredshoes

rubyredshoes — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:42:55 +0000

I agree that it is all about money and I also agree that you have to be motivated. I actually think it would help some people though, if it was illegal. You would have to actually break the law to do it, so I think in some circumstances, for example, if people do not have health or family motivation, it could give them a reason to quit.

Heaven knows, it’s all moot anyway. We all know the government is not about to give up the revenue it makes on smokers.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:23:39 +0000

You definitely pose some good questions here. I think that tradition is a large part of why tobacco and alcohol remain legal, even though they both probably do much more damage each year than illegal drugs, if only because the legal drugs are more widely used. And even if tobacco were made illegal (which I can’t see happening, considering the huge amount of money to be made from selling it…), I don’t think it would necessarily help people quit. Motivation to quit has to come from the individual, but it certainly sounds like you’ve found your motivation (your family), and so I think you can definitely pull through.