David Smith wrote:
>
>Tobacco smoking is hardly a victimless pastime, but more like a deadly
>epidemic of addiction and air pollution that has crippled the American
>economy while consigning millions of people to agonizing deaths.
>
>There is a difference between constitutionally protected forms of
>expression, and the concerted, cynical efforts by corporate drug pushers
>and poisoners to misuse mass entertainment media in order to hypnotize and
>seduce their prey.
>
I'm not sure whether this got anything to do with film or not, but a recent=
=20
Swedish study shows that smoking actually strengthens the state economy (sm=
okers =20
pay a lot of tobacco tax but doesn't get as much state pension as non-smoke=
rs).=20
I do not know if this is the case in the U.S. since both the tobacco tax an=
d the=20
state pension is conciderably lower than in Sweden, but I strongly doubt th=
at=20
smoking is the major reason for the 'crippled American economy'.
 
Cheers,
 
Ulf (happy tobacco addict)
Ulf Dalquist                Phone:  +46 46 2224266
Dept. of Sociology          Fax:    +46 46 2224794
Box 114 221 00 Lund SWEDEN  E-mail: [log in to unmask]        =20
'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.'
                                                                                                                                                                Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
 
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