I’m about to tell you something that I’m not particularly proud of and frankly it’s embarassing. I wouldn’t share it but for this burning question I have. It’s something that I do even though I know it’s bad for me. Some of you already know this about me. And for some it may be the first time you’re hearing it.
I’m a smoker. I’ve been smoking since…well a long time. And you want to know why I started? Because I remember hearing that smoking stunts your growth and I had this fear of being too tall! Crazy!
I’ve tried to hide it by smoking around the corner, in the alley, washing my hands, spraying stuff in my hair and chewing gum. Crazy! Once in my 20’s I quit for a whole month. However I was so irritable that a few friends chipped in and bought me cigarettes with a note that said ‘please smoke.’ Crazy! Other attempts to quit have also failed.
Tonight I saw the following story on the news, it’s an unprecedented event and I will be watching it closely.
Quebec smokers, tobacco firms face off in $27B lawsuit
Tobacco companies embroiled in a historic civil suit began the trial Monday by arguing that smokers who get sick or can’t kick the habit have nobody to blame but themselves.
The landmark class-action case, worth up to $27 billion, got underway in a Montreal courtroom where Canada’s three biggest cigarette companies squared off against a group representing 1.8 million smokers in Quebec. It is considered the biggest class-action case in Canadian history, and marks the first time tobacco companies have gone to trial in a civil suit in Canada.
To read entire article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/12/quebec-tobacco-lawsuit-damages-smoking-related-illness.html
Honestly – I wish I didn’t smoke. I wish I could quit. We all know smoking is addictive, some say it’s as hard to kick as Heroine. And we could sit around and discuss who is to blame forever and a day. Is it the smoker? Is it the Tobacco companies? But I think the question begging to be asked is “Why in heaven’s name are cigarettes even legal in the first place?? Certainly we’ve taken less offensive and less dangerous products off the shelves. Why not cigarettes? C’mon Canada – do you want to pass a Bill that will make a difference and literally save lives? A Bill that would spare future generations from even the option to smoke? Do the right thing.
Make the production of cigarettes and smoking illegal!
talktodiana 
Hi, Diana. Three of my siblings smoke cigarettes and have tried to quit. I think that banning cigarettes would give mobsters a huge source of revenue and that the ban would fail in th same way that Prohibition in the U.S. created huge mafia problems without ending drinking. I think the idea looks great on paper but would be extremely hard to pull off without deleterious effects on smokers, tax revenues, and law and order.
Russ
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perhaps but it’s ironic how they pull way less dangerous things off the shelves…at least they should remove all the additives that have nothing to do with tabacco!
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I never knew you smoked!!!!!
My partner smoked and last October quit — he’s been quit since and says he’s loving not being a smoker — he also admits how hard it was. In the 5 years we’ve been together, he’s quit several times — this time, for some reason, he doesn’t miss it.
As to the law — agree!
I always find it fascinating that they take drugs off the shelves because of harmful side effects, but not cigarettes. Hello? Isn’t death by cancer a harmful side effect?
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No kidding it really stumps me too. I think if Canada had the ‘balls’ to abolish cigarettes, other countries would follow shortly thereafter…..however I think the revenue that is generated from taxing cigarettes is a huge motivator to doing nothing…come to think of it more of the economy is then boosted by smoking cessation products! What a gig huh? Cause the problem and then provide the solution!
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