Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I strongly disagree with the above.
There are smokers, who live 100 or more years. Just check the oldest people on earth, how many of them are/were smokers. If smokers can live that long, then the "irrefutable medical evidence" of shortning life of smokers is facing a serious problem.
And I would love to see the medical evidence showing, that smoking of a few cigarettes a day is shortning a life. That's nothing but antismoking nazies' propaganda. People are buying it without closer examination.
Don't forget these people:
"Every year, almost 1,000 smokers and non-smokers are killed in home fires caused by cigarettes and other smoking materials."
Location: Prescott Valley, Az (unfortunately still here)
2,543 posts, read 4,862,740 times
Reputation: 1521
I never did understand these stupid alcohol laws. They tell you to not drink and drive, yet they have bars and nightclubs so you can drink, but how the hell are you supposed to go home? Like who the hell can afford a cab these days?! Have you been in a cab lately? I did, about a month ago, it costed me $32 just to go 8 miles from home (1 way!!)!!!! It's unbelieveable. No wonder people are still drinking and driving (it's cheaper).
And not to mention most of the bars and clubs don't offer the "safe ride home" program (where the cab ride is free and they pick you up the next day so you can pick up your vehicle). So, it's like not a good idea to go to bars and clubs anymore...Sheesh!! It's like they tell you one thing, then another.
The idea of launching a nationwide campaign discouraging alcohol consumption is problematical on several levels. 1--The vast majority of alcohol users do so responsibly, thus there is really no reason for them to be encouraged to quit, especially in view of the fact that medical studies come out all the time touting the health benefits of having one or two drinks every other day or so. Thus, these social or occasional drinkers have no reason to abstain completely, and they're very unlikely to heed any advice to quit.
2--The hardcore, problem drinkers aren't giong to quit solely because they see anti-alcohol ads on TV. It's an addiction, after all, and like any other addiction, people don't quit until they are personally ready and willing.
3--Discouraging ALL alcohol use is the way the Temperance Movement began back in the 1920's. And we now realize that the Abolition Laws were a complete disaster; they actually created MORE alcoholics and crime, while at the same time erasing a huge tax income for the government.
4--Politically, warning people about alcohol use, since the campaign would have to be government-based and funded, would be merely yet another instance of Uncle Sam sticking his nose into our private business. I think we need less government, not more. As the old saying goes: "You can't legislate morality."
5--It's the beginnning of a slippery slope. If alcohol use was discouraged, what next? Soft drinks? (The feds are already considering taxing those too!) Pastries? Candy? After all, the current obesity epidemic in our country is surely as damaging and costly as is alcohol abuse.
My bottom line opinion: I just don't see the point of an anti-alcohol campaign. We already have enough safeguards in effect: most booze ads now come with a coda warning their customers to drink responsibly, and jeez, I simply can't imagine drunk driving laws getting any harsher. My attorney brother practices criminal law and defends drunk drivers once in awhile. He tells me he can often-times get clients lesser sentences for things like domestic violence and simple assault than drunk driving, especially if it is a second ot third offense, in which case the offender usually goes to prison. (Do you realize that a mere 20 years ago a first-time DUI conviction carried usually a mere $300 or so? No other crime has escalated in its usual punishment ove the past couple decades than has simple, misdemeanor DUI. The MADD lobby is incredibly strong. (My brother thinks it is far TOO strong.)
Let's just give the American people some credit that, with the ongoing health and fitness awareness, many of them will continue to drink less. You DO realize that people drink less now than, say, ten years ago, right?
Like PJ O'Rourke says: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
When I was a kid, drinking and driving was a $36 fine, And if you were to drunk, the cops drove you home, my how things have changed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.