Pubdate: Fri, 14 Jul 2000
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register
Contact:  P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711
Fax: (714) 565-3657
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Author: Lionel De Leon

TOBACCO TRIALS PUT WRONG PEOPLE ON THE DEFENSIVE

The cancer risk from cigarettes has been widely publicized for years,
and its addictiveness has been obvious even longer. Those who ignored
the U.S. surgeon general's warnings and anti-smoking advertisements
have no one to blame but themselves if they are diagnosed with lung
cancer or other respiratory illnesses. The tobacco industry lied to
protect its financial interests.

If anyone is to blame for tobacco-related deaths besides the
individual, it would have to be the FDA, DEA or whichever alphabetic
government agency regulates products for consumer safety. They are the
people who have allowed tobacco products to be on the market despite
evidence they are carcinogenic and harmful to respiratory health. But
if our government tried to add tobacco to the list of dangerous and
illegal drugs, it would lead to a house cleaning of our incumbent
government officials on  Election Day. And if tobacco is not on the
list, then why is cannabis? tobacco causes more deaths than all other
illegal drugs than all other illegal drugs combined, while cannabis is
practically harmless

Lionel De Leon - Garden Grove
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