Another point-I live in Kentucky-#1 cash crop in the state is tobacco. My uncle is a farmer, he raises tobacco among other things, last year our government paid him $7000 not to raise tobacco or to lease his land for that purpose. Now where do you suppose they got the money to pay him not to raise tobacco and why would they do that. I wish I knew more details. All I know for sure is that he got a check for &7000 for not using his land to raise tobacco. So he took their money and raised corn on the land instead. Corn of course is easier and cheaper to raise and worth nothing. They didn't care what he did with the land, he didn't have to raise anything on it, the government didn't care as long as no tobacco was raised on it. So, bottom line, the goverment paid him $7000 for nothing, absolutely nothing. I should be so lucky. So if they have money like that to throw around, trust me, they can provide health care for every person, if they wanted to.

I can see both sides. Illegal drugs are expensive yet there's people who buy it at any cost. So higher prices/taxes won't necessarily stop smokers from buying them. Maybe reduce the numbers a bit.

And I love potato chips. If it takes a person say, 5 minutes to smoke a cigarette, I can easily clean out two bags of chips during that time. If I ate them everytime a person smoked, I would surely end up with heart disease and probably die before the smoker. Not as addictive, but still addicting to me.

It's all about personal responsibility. I've seen the ravages of smoking in my family (not cancer, but emphysema) and it's not a nice way to go. Bottom line for them was that they knew their fate but couldn't/didn't give it up. The cost was their lives, a much higher price than monetary.

I'll vouch for the Canadian healthcare because I've seen relatives' lives turned around from treatment there.

I wish I knew more details.

It is explained at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tobacco Buyout Means Changes For Kentucky Agriculture

I just want to add another point here. Exhaust fumes are most probably carcinogenic and are definitely annoying to inhale.
Why no concern about this, but all the vitriol towards smokers?

I am soooooo sick of our government trying to tell us what is "good for us" or "not good for us". How did we in the older generation ever survive this long without them? We played with liquid silvery slippery mercury. We had lead in the paint of our cribs. There was no such thing as helmets, seatbelts, airbags, electrical outlet protectors, childproof bottle caps, etc. No one thing we have is going to kill us all, nor protect us all. I am a smoker...my choice...and my country has always been based on freedom of choice,which I feel is being taken away from us daily. My thoughts are joined with tkaye, patti, caroline, ron, curlysue, chemocari, country bumpkin, targen and zipper.

My Mother is 85 and suffers with severe emphysema and uses oxygen 24/7. Seeing her as such a pathetic sight breaks my heart. Maybe if cigs cost $6 a pack back in the 1940's she would have given them up and she'd be in good health today. I say hurray for the tax increases. And every time I hear of a verdict against the tobacco companies,I am cheered.

Thanks for the link Chemocurl, but I still don't get it. He is getting paid not to grow tobacco. They still want the tobacco, but they don't want him to be the one to grow it.
I don't understand the reasoning behind this. Sorry just over my head I guess.

While smoking may seem to be a personal choice to you, it isn't for non-smokers. Basically, smokers take away that right when non-smokers must inhale smoker's exhaust.

Yes, I'm from an older generation and we didn't wear helmets, we made coins shiny with mercury, we were able to open pill bottles with ease, and probably chewed on lead laden crib rails. That doesn't mean that those things weren't bad for us. So most of us lived. Does that mean that we should NOT try to protect ourselves? Of course not. And government wouldn't have to legislate if individuals and companies were responsible, but they aren't. Yes, laws aren't perfect, but without them, you'd all be complaining about that, too. IN THE BEGINNING, there were only 10 laws (commandments). If we could just have kept those, there wouldn't be any need for the others, LOL.

Linda it is true that you and others have the right to choose to smoke. However, I have the right to breath clean air, so when your choice interferes with my right to basic necessity, we clash. Smokers could avoid some of the hassle if they would move away from doorways. Nonsmokers resent having to walk through smoke to enter a building. If you want to smoke, get away from those of us who do not smoke to do it. You might not get as much flack. Every time I have to walk through smoke, I think about writing my congressman and sometimes I do write - to support the tax for example.

How did we in the older generation ever survive this long without them? We played with liquid silvery slippery mercury. We had lead in the paint of our cribs. There was no such thing as helmets, seatbelts, airbags, electrical outlet protectors, childproof bottle caps, etc.

Well, according to the CDC, the average life expectancy has increased from age 68 to 78 between 1950 and 2005.

'The major factors accounting for increasing life expectancy, especially in the period of rapid improvement, were better nutrition and hygiene practices (both private and public), as well as enhanced knowledge of public health measures...

'In 2004...The trend in the overall cancer death rate reflects the trend in the death rate for lung cancer (Table 39). Since 1970, the death rate for lung cancer for the total population has been higher than the death rate for any other cancer site.'

"The fifth leading cause of death in 2004 was unintentional injuries. Age-adjusted death rates for unintentional injuries declined during the period 1950Â1992 (Table 29). Since 1992, the unintentional injury mortality rate has gradually increased. Despite recent increases, the death rate for unintentional injuries in 2004 was still 52% lower than the rate in 1950"

Hey, I'm very happy to take those extra 10 years of life, thank you very much :)

Here is a link that might be useful: CDC Life Expectancy in the United States, 2007

They don't put huge taxes on booze because it is an industry that keeps paychecks rolling in: every bar, sports event, liquor store, quik-stop, grocery chain yaddayaddablahblah money maker. They don't tax the heck out of junk food for the same reason.

But they should.

Ammo, I'm not so sure that is a good thing. In my world it is used to protect our stock from predators & to put food on the table. But I understand we are the minority. Maybe rancher/farmers should get a tax break on ammo, like they do on diesel fuel.

What bothers me the most is the smokers/drinkers/fast food eaters that are low income. Their children do without wholesome food to make room in the budget for these things. Those kids don't stand a chance, they will do the same thing. It's a self-perpetuating cycle. A bad one.
j

I don't understand the thinking that just because YOU didn't die from a car accident or ingesting lead or playing with mercury, no one else ever did.

So based on your arguement, if you don't have it then no else should, and all the precautions are totally unnecessary.

That's like saying AIDS or breast cancer doesn't exist because you don't know a single person that has it.

I don't get it.

According to statistics that I have read, Lung cancer kills more people....smokers and non-smokers than the other three top cancers all together...breast cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer.....

Zeetera - I'm with you on the potato chips thing. I NEVER like "junk food" when I was young. Now, it it's terrible. I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one - I only need five minutes too. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Maybe if I added another chip, it would take the place of the cig. Bad part, I feel worse after eating all those chips than I do smoking. I know the bad stuff from smoking will catch up with me, but right now I'm slowing the chips 'cause I'm getting rediculou about them.

I have NEVER smoked and I have emphysema (mild) from being exposed by smokers.
Even when I was a nurse, patients were allowed to smoke in their rooms and I was affected.
Our county was the first county to outlaw smoking in public places....that was in 1990.
Our hospitals recently became smoke free in all areas a couple of months ago.
When I was in nurses training, during our OR rotation I was able to see the lung of a person who had never smoked....nice pink tissue. The case immediately following was a person who had been a heavy smoker and he had a huge cancer and the blackest, ugliest tissue you can imagine.
I have a difficult time understanding why people working in the health fields smoke.

Who ever suggested that we humans governed our lives mainly by rational criteria??

By the way ... about half of the Ten Comandments that Jews and Christians have learned are negative: don't kill, don't covet, steal, commit adultery, etc.

While the Christians say that the Ten Commandments are still important in their mind, they say that the requirement which they are to follow is much simpler:

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Love your neighbour as yourself.

When someone asks, "What else?" ... the answer is, "Nothing - that's it".

Simpler to comprehend ... not simpler to follow!

Good wishes for developing a high standard of life for yourself ... and for the will, strength and grace to bring it off!

ole joyful

First of all I want to commend all of the folks who have successfully quit smoking. My sister is a smoker and has tried numerous times to quit, and has tried many different things to help her quit. I have witnesses her struggle. She has not been successful but I hope she will eventually win her battle.

I am a non-smoker never having smoked. I grew up in a household where both of my parents smoked. I remember taking the newspaper and fanning the living room to get rid of the blue cloud that permeated the air. Going for rides in the car were horrific because I couldn't escape the smell. I remember going to school with my clothes smelling like smoke.

My mother was 84 when she passed away. For 60 years of her life she was a smoker. When she was diagnosed with early stage emphysema she quit smoking by using the patch. The next 6 years as a non-smoker didn't stop the progression of her emphysema. Once you have emphysema, even you quit it doesn't reverse the damage that has already been done.

Eventually my mom was on oxygen 24/7. It seriously limited the quality of her life. Towards the end, she was in hospice and was being administered morphine to help slow down her respirations as she was gasping for air. She was out of it because of the morphine but she still gasped and struggled to breathe. I begged the staff to give her more morphine. They couldn't because any more would kill her, and unfortunately WA state didn't have assisted suicide.

Watching a loved one die this way very sad. I will probably never forget watching her suffering.

I worry about myself. I didn't do anything to bring on the possibilty of developing emphysema or lung cancer having been exposed to second hand smoke for 20 years - when I was 20 I moved out of my parents home to be on my own.

I hate walking by the smokers on my way into the building where I work. I hate picking up the work of my co-workers who take numerous breaks throughout the day to go outside and smoke. These "breaks" don't last less than 15 minutes each time they go outside. I don't get that many breaks. I figure they must spend at least an hour and a half of a work day spending their time outside. That is 7.5 hours a week and 30 hours a month. Multiply that by all of the smokers spending time outside and that is a lot of lost productivity. I have to work 160 hours a month whereas a amoker only has to work 130 hours a month. Where is the fairness in that?

I don't know what I think about taxing cigarettes more than what they already are. I believe in personal responsibility and choice. Smokers know all of bad things that can happen as a result of smoking. My belief is that as long as smokers are aware of what they are risking, I think that is more important than increasing the taxes on cigarettes.

Here in Canada we get taxed on fast food, sugary foods, convenience foods and pop, beer, liquor - we get taxed on every service provided to us - the GST Goods and Services Tax. In Ontario with sales tax and the GST we are paying I think it is now 14 percent on most purchases except milk, butter, fruit, veggies, meat, breads, baby food. If I go across the border and buy something and bring it back I may have to pay Duty on some things but I also have to pay GST on something I have already paid a tax on. LOL

I have seen my friends quit smoking because they couldn't afford to buy cigarettes any more because of the high taxes on them plus every public place in Ontario is smoke free-even the bars. You aren't even allowed to smoke in your car if you have a child in the car with you. My friends were angry at the time but they sure do appreciate not smoking now. Even some of the bar owners who bitterly complained that they would be forced out of business have change their tune now to the cigarette ban. I have never smoked and can't imagine doing it but my Mom smoked and I was so relieved when diagnosed with Alzheimer's she forgot she smoked. LOL I think the taxes from these cigarette sales should go to fund hospitals and health care.

I also am thankful for our Canadian socialized health care. We do pay for it indirectly through employee/employer taxes.

You smoke you have to pay the taxes. Here in Canada if you get fat from eating fast food and potato chips you pay taxes on what you eat. If you pump gas you pay high taxes.
Government has to earn money for the services it provides and that money comes from those of us who have vices. We don't like it we quit smoking, we quit eating junk and we walk wherever we have to go.

We have to pay the taxes but at least we still have the right to complain. People in some countries are not so fortunate when they complain about their government.

Anne

I can't see why anyone would ever begin smoking in the first place. Smokers say they're addicted, but they weren't before the first cigarette. I tried one once at a slumber party when I was a teen and gagged. Never smoked another one. Husband smoked from 16 to about 26, but my father died of lung cancer. He smoked unfiltered Camels for 40 years and had stopped but it was too late. When husband smoked you would put a quarter in the vending machine and get a pack with four pennies change. So I hope cigarettes are taxed to the hilt to prevent my grandkids from smoking. Neither of my kids ever would: they're vegetarians and athletes.

Are you kidding?

Lori

Sephia, a friend of mine got tired of all the cigarette breaks too. He shocked everyone when he just got up and walked outside saying he was taking a smoke break. Nobody said anything to him either and he kept doing it.

I'm not saying that smokes shouldn't be taxed. It just irks me that our Govenor, who just announced on the news last night, that wants to raise them $1. Okay..fine....but once again he has NOT said anythign about raising the the alcohol tax.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

PS...even though they will raise the tax I still only pay $18 for 2 1/2 cartons.

This is just a thought, but perhaps cigarettes are being singled out because the use of alcohol is, for the majority of us, a casual use in a non addictive way that doesn't harm our health and thus does not suck money from the tax payer.

There are no actual "casual" smokers just as there are no casual crack users. This is a deadly addiction which trashes one's health slowly unto death, because of that it costs the taxpayer a great deal in the health care that becomes necessary.

This is just my thought on it - another reason cigarettes may be so singled out is because, frankly, they can get away with it.

You can, very easily, find out your state representatives and get both their state addresses and their Washington DC addresses. Same goes for the Governor of your state. Write them (paper letters sent via postal service are FAR more effective than email) and tell them (politely) your objections to this tax and why.

During the last election, I decided that if I am unhappy about something, I'm going to let my reps know, on paper with a stamp on it. I have been the "silent majority" long enough.

It may not change anything or even be looked at, but I'm speaking my mind in the only way I know how from here on out. By the time it's time to have my voice via a vote, it's too late - what's done is done. I'm going to let them know how this particular voter feels while it's in the process of happening from now on: both positive and negative stuff.

You should write your rep, and request a reply. You might not get much attention paid to your letter (more so, however, than any email sent) you might not like the answer if you get one but you will have done what you can to be heard.

Samkaren, are you justifying continuing to smoke because yours are cheap?

As for not including alcohol right now, I hope they get to that soon.

"PS...even though they will raise the tax I still only pay $18 for 2 1/2 cartons"

Where you live, cigarettes are only $18 for 25 packs, assuming that a carton is 10 packs? $.72 a pack?

You have nothing to "complain" about. In California, a pack of cigarettes is about $4, according to signs I see.

even though they will raise the tax I still only pay $18 for 2 1/2 cartons.
What a bargain.
You must buy them at a military installation.
Funny.
I didn't know you were in the military.

Ever try to buy booze in Utah?
Booze is regulated by the state government and you can only buy it in a state liqour store.
And it is taxed.
Up the yingyang.
And everyone who visits Utah hates the liquor laws.

Lori

Sam rolls her own.

I think mylab is right. Alcohol is not taxed as heavily because most alcohol use is casual, while all cigarette smoking is deadly.

Secondly, no one dies from second hand alcohol (unless they're hit by a drunk driver - and that's another story).

Lastly, most people addicted to cigarettes probably have little price sensitivity. They may gripe about it, but they'll pay it anyway because they have to - just as you have said.

So it increases tax revenue without reducing demand. A bonus for bankrupt states who desperately need other revenue sources as sales taxes dry up from reduced consumer spending.

Unfortunately I don't see the higher taxes being a much of a deterrant, although higher taxes might dissuade someone from starting to smoke.

OK, rolling her own explains the absurdly cheap price.

I bought my machine after our previous govenor sued the online tobacco companies for the names & addresses of those buying smokes online. He then sent me (and lots of others) the bill for the unpaid cigarette taxes (which was a large amount). SO...I paid the bill and bought the machine. A 1 pound bag of tobacco costs $12. A carton of tubes costs $3. Sure it takes time to sit and roll my smokes but it's worth the time. I also smoke less because I have to roll my own.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

Sorry, but I don't have any sympathy for the taxes smokers have to pay.
But I also don't agree with the tobacco companies having to pay out all this money to people or families of people who have made the bad desicion to smoke. Especially now a days, when it's known that it will kill you.

I agree Ritamay. If you choose to smoke then you shouldn't be able to sue the company.

SamKaren

"There are no actual "casual" smokers just as there are no casual crack users". Yes there ARE "casual" smokers and I personally know several. 2 guys I work with smoke ONLY when they're drinking (and that's not often). A lady I know made several attempts to quit and it was a battle she could not win. She finally compromised and "allows" herself 3 cigarettes a day. For her this worked and even her Dr. does not consider her a "smoker"! Another lady I know is also a casual smoker. She may go days without lighting up and then one day decide to relax and have a smoke.

I admit I smoke and I feel no need to "justify" it to anyone. Most "addictions" have become "a disease" (drug addicts, alcoholics,etc.) and in a way that "justifies" the person doing whatever it is they do "and they can't help it..it's a diesease"!! And, those are the people that get sent to rehab (time off from work WITH pay) to get help with their "disease"!

The fact is, we all do something that someone else doesn't like (or agree with). Nothing we eat,drink or do is GOOD for us. If it's good for us today, give it a few years...and it's BAD for us.

I can't say I enjoy or want to be around someone chewing,smacking,cracking and popping chewing gum and if I wanted to split hairs, THAT affects ME! It gets on my nerves...causing stress and by golly STRESS causes HEART ATTACKS!

Just something funny to share! One of my co-workers had to go with her Mom to the Drs. yesterday. They're sitting there and a lady comes in, sits down next to another patient..then starts coughing/hacking and says she smells cigatette smoke. After several comments about smelling cigarette smoke..she gets up and moves across the room and sits beside my co-worker..still complaining that she doesn't understand why anyone would smoke...it makes them stink,blahblahblah. My co-workers Mom looked at the lady and said "Well SHE smokes" (and points to my co-worker).The woman looked funny and said.."well I don't smell it on HER"! lol

I would think that with the condition this world is in, there are more important things to complain about.

Just curious, are you smoking less because you're getting a higher concentration of nictotine into you?

That's a good question, tally, but there is probably no way to measure. She may be reaching a false conclusion when she assumes she smokes less because of the time it takes to roll them. Besides, it's not necessarily how many cigarettes you smoke, but how deeply you inhale and how much nicotine is delivered to the smoker's system.I wonder how one would measure the nicotine in roll-your-own cigs.

Did you know that cig cos enhance the nicotine to make cigs more addicting? And that if you smoke low-nicotine cigarettes, you inhale more deeply, thus potentially causing more lung damage, than if you smoked full-potency cigarettes? I think you're on to something about the roll-your-own smokers thinking they're ahead of the game. Tobacco companies think of everything...they need to stay in business.

I disagree that smokers should not be allowed to sue. Yes, smokers are buying a legal product, but tobacco companies depend upon addiction to remain in business and their own research proves that tobacco is carcinogenic. They know what they're doing, and they don't mind doing it.

If you smoke, you pay! One way or another!

There are casual smokers just as there are casual drinkers. Not everyone who drinks in an alcoholic.

I also don't think that everyone who smokes regularly is even addicted...just as I don't think that everyone who drinks regularly (daily), is addicted to alcohol.

I knew an elderly man who had smoked for 50 years and a doctor told him he needed to quit, so he did. He put them down and never smoked again....on his first attempt. I later asked him if he still had the desire or urge to smoke, and he replied that he had never had the urge or desire since his last smoke, years before. I 'believe' he was telling me the truth.

Sue

I have refrained from getting into this thread - but
today I am thinking about my sister.

I watched a beautiful, inside and out, woman die
a slow, agonizing death, with terrible, terrible treatments
that didn't work. Because, she was a smoker and
didn't want to quit, and waited too long to go to the
Dr.

God Help All You Smokers if this is your end. And,
maybe if you can get the taxes removed, you can gloat
and smile to yourself while you are hacking, hacking
and hacking up your own blood.

If you are having trouble quiting - go to a Hospice
and sit with a lung cancer victim.

Start taxing fast food dollar meals and listen to the fat people complain... :-)

Widows, children (who continue the cycle of living on junk food), and those who share high health care costs because of the obesity epidemic are tired of "second hand Quarter Pounders."

molly109,

First of all, I am sorry about your sister and your impending loss. But if you think for a minute the she didn't want to quit you are fooling yourself.

Show a little compassion, for goodness sakes. It takes more than taxes and sitting at a hospice to get over an addiction.

If you are having trouble quiting - go to a Hospice
and sit with a lung cancer victim.

Watching someone die of lung cancer in a hospice would likely not help a smoker quit much more than an alcoholic would quit drinking after watching someone with Delirium tremens (DTs) or dying from cirrhosis of the liver.

Neither my husband nor I have ever smoked, but our son dated a smoker and started smoking himself. He won't smoke around us because I have asthma (probably as a result of being exposed to my father's second-hand smoke my entire childhood), but the fact that he smokes at all is a big worry. If cigarettes were taxed higher, he simply would not be able to afford them any more, which would help him quit. So I am all for an increase in cigarette taxes and prices, the higher the better.

Ah, but I disagree Chemocurl..
I went to nursing school at about 28 year of age. I knew how to smoke, would smoke with my friends when we went out. Not alot but I was concerned that this was my fork in the road so to speak.

One of my first patients at a long term care facility was dying from lung cancer. She was in her 40's and was in a terrible way. She was on morphine and rolling around in her bed in pain,, I could barely watch. The doctors did up her morphine and she finally passed. I won't go into the other agonizing details of her horrific death but I though OMG! is that the way I want to go? After that I had to irrigate a mans FACE because his cigarettes and chew had initiated cancer in his bone and muscle. He was such a happy guy that looked someone in a horror flick. I learned to see past his disfigurement but knew he was in for a long and deadly ride.
Later in the regular hospital there was a tiny lady walking the halls, oxygen by her side. She walked to the courtyard very slowly, barely able to breath with each step, to have one more cigarette. We had to watch her, making sure her air was off before she smoked. On one hand she was going to die pretty soon , so what did it matter that she smoked all the time, and on the other hand I felt totally angry at her for doing it. Her family suffered right along with her.
She was a selfish addict.

I've seen plenty of people who were going down hill fast during my time as a nurse. It was so sad and made me think deep and hard about myself.
Besides second hand smoke from my childhood, I was killing myself one puff at a time. My lungs are not in great shape anyhow. Being with these people helped me decide NOT to smoke again. Now days, second hand smoke makes me feel gaggy, which is good because I never want to smoke again.

Having been addicted to smoking, I agree with Chemocurl's last post although I strongly disagree with her post about the possibility that there are adults who smoke casually as there are people who drink casually.

I watched some people die slowly of cancer and I smoked right through the stressful time. Quitting wasn't even an possibility in my mind, most ESPECIALLY at that time.

I am a firm believer that a smoker can't quit successfully for life unless it is their personal choice, for whatever reason that might be, to quit. They can't do it for their husband or mother or child. This is sad and perhaps shocking, but true. This isn't something that be done for someone else.

**All of this being a "general rule of thumb" - ANYTHING is possible in this world. But, we are talking about vast PROBabilities about this addiction and it's quit.**

What a visit to a hospice COULD accomplish is to be another one of those things that tend to add up to that big package of thought or inspiration which is what inspires a person to be willing to do what is necessary to quit this addiction for life.

It can't hurt and can do a lot of good. But, nobody who isn't interested in quitting would ever do that - only those who badly want to quit and need as much inspiration to keep the quit would do this.

Smokers close their eyes as tightly as possible regarding their addiction, the effects it is having on them and also on their perceived ability to quit tomorrow if they really decided to.

Someone who has never begun AND stuck through the quit process for several years can't possibly understand what smoking and it's quit involves. Is it worth it? I can't begin to tell you how much - and would be wasting my time to smokers who are not interested in contemplating a quit.

I understand this stance completely, I've been there and I remember and have talked with hundreds who have quit and have a similar story to mine - and to the smokers here on this forum.

What an interesting thread this has been.

My mother was a smoker all her life until her lung cancer diagnosis in 2000, at age 64. She was fortunate that her cancer was treated "successfully" - but since then she struggled to live with asthma, emphysema, COPD, until she died at age 70.

I was present at my mother's death. I won't go into details, but here was my prayer afterward (you should know that I've never smoked and am healthy, and am in my early 40s; I am a happily married mother of three school-aged kids):

"God, I would rather die peacefully in my sleep tonight than live another 40 years and face the same death experience as my mother did."

It was that horrific.

I have also refrained from commenting on this thread -- but if my comments give even one smoker pause for concern, then it was worth commenting. If you don't want to quit for yourself (and I know that *has* to be the case) -- do it for your loved ones so they don't have to witness your dying.

WE;ve watched my mother die a horrible horrible painful death due to lung cancer from smoking.. and just recently my father, was horrible also. Dr. says his smoking surely added to the esophogeal cancer... anyhow... out of 4 of us kids, only one has ever smoked, and being there first hand, seeing everything and even having 2 young daughter, he can still not quit.

A follow-up to my own previous message - my facts were inaccurate.

My mother was a smoker until a medical emergency (lung embolisms) landed her in the ER. The ER doc told her she had no option but to quit, that she would not survive embolisms if they recurred. That was the last day she smoked.

That was 8 years prior to her lung cancer diagnosis.

Point being - she still suffered greatly from the effects of smoking, even after being an ex-smoker for 8 years.

Neesie & Chemcurl- I appreciate "your knowledge". But, you
don't really have any on this subject of my sister.
She chose not to quit and said so many times.

I was a smoker and quit, and it was one of the hardest
things to do, but it can be done.

Have compassion? How dare you - I loved my sister, she

was my big sis and my best friend. But, she didn't
want to quit smoking, plain and simple.

Please tell me where you are getting this first hand
knowledge about my sister's feelings?

And, if watching a beloved person dying at a Hospice
of a preventable disease - Smoker's Cancer - wouldn't
bother you - you are made of stone and how
lucky it must be not to have any feelings. Actually,
smoking may be the least of your problems.

Just the thought of cigarette smoke makes me sick. I hope they tax cigarette's even higher. I don't understand why anyone smokes. My neighbor died of cancer last year and three different doctor's said his cancere was definately from second hand smoke. How horrible!

Well, I work with other nurses and respiratory therapist who see all the suffering from emphasema, COPD, head, neck and lung cancers, heart disease, all caused by smoking, and they are smokers themselves. We have a couple who have serious lung diseases themselves or heart disease that have had bypass surgery and continue to smoke. How you can do trach care on someone and then go take your upteenth smoke break is beyond me. Part of it is the stress of the job, so they say.

Both my parents smoked, my dad quit cold turkey when the surgeon general first came out and said it can kill you. My mom took decades to quit, trying everything under the sun. She ended up dying of heart disease. Now I have asthma and wonder if it was because I was exposed to her smoking and others? I think the ability to quit is different for everyone, my dad also quit drinking cold turkey when he finally realized he was going to die from it. He also lost a lot of weight, eats virtually the same way day after day and only rarely eats sweets or stuff not good for you. I don't know how he does it.