@fisch,

You forget the chemical and, in many, emotional dependency that a tobacco smoker develops. Nicotine is addictive. And yet, unlike other addictive substances, it is not policed by the government (same thing goes with alcohol).

When one is dependent upon a substance, there will be a nagging doubt about the medical ill effects as long as the people who are pushing it provide you with their own "medical" evidence that argues to the contrary.

People who smoke are not "stupid" simply because they do, they're hooked.

Edited by - Indy11 on 6/8/2004 6:30:05 AM

hell no! I enjoy it!

(takes more digoxin)

it's never done me any harm



..everyone suffers in silence with burdens, the man who drives minicabs down in Old Compton; the Asian man, with his love-hate affair with this racist lying town..

If it comes to that, the smokers should sue the tobacco companies for all the actual and possible harm smoking can cause? I kinda like the ide - not that I will stop smoking, but I could always use extra cash.
Speaking of military matters, "I was just following orders" was the most common defence in Nurenberg, IIRC.
Still, a lot of things, I believe, are related to mass psychology (everybody ran, so did I). No sane person would do things he or she would being a part of the herd (oops, I meant mass). So, if there's sth you don't approve of but the masses do, there's not much you can do about it, right? Say, a good lawyer, appealing to the jury (logically, emotionally, who cares?) can easily withdraw any accusations. It doesn't matter if the person has really committed the crime or not - it's about persuasion that tha guy (or a chick) is innocent or that sb (or sth) else is responsible for that. Sheise, I fear in the future we will have the situation when all criminals who eventually pay for their crimes are those who can't pay for their lawyer or don't have any acquaintances on the higher strata of the society. This calls for the legalisation of vendetta.

Wisdom comes with age. But sometimes age comes alone...

@Zlo,

No. Because of that, habitual smokers shouldn't sue the tobacco companies. But at the same token, isn't there some responsibility that the tobacco companies had to the general public not to tell all those lies?

Anyway, those law suits pretty much are history now. More and more, individual cases are beginning to go in favor of the people suing so the tobacco companies so I guess things will sort themselves out in some kind of fashion.

Regarding just following orders. Everybody seems to poo-poo that as an excuse and everbody seems to think that it would not have happened to themselves.

I happen to know that, in fact, a red blooded born free and willing to die free American, when confronted with similar circumstances will just follow orders and do things that are, well, unspeakable.

Here is a short summary

Fisch - There is a difference between following orders on the battlefield or in training, and following orders that are morally reprehensible. I will not mention any specifics, because I do not wish this to become political, buit you know what I mean.

I'm not saying smokers in general are stupid, I was referring to the people who expect that there will be no ill effects despite the fact that their general health is declining and then sue someone about it.

I am just a worthless liar,
I am just an imbecile,
I will only complicate you,
Trust in me and fall as well.