Pretty straightforward, yes? Apparently not.. Fucktards sue Big Tobacco because they couldn't read
We've known for over thirty years that smoking can harm your body and the bodies of those around you. Correct? Correct. It is well documented that when we quit smoking we can expect the following:
20 minutes: Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal
8 hours: Oxygen levels in your blood return to normal.
24 hours: Carbon monoxide has been eliminated from your body. Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.
48 hours: There is no nicotine left in your body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.
72 hours: Breathing becomes easier. Your bronchial tubes begin to relax and your energy levels increase.
2-12 weeks: Circulation improves throughout the body, making walking and running a whole lot easier.
3-9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems get better as your lung function is increased by up to 10%.
5 years: Heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker. (This is where I am right now)
10 years: Risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to same as someone who has never smoked. (I look forward to this one)
So let's assume the people taking the tobacco companies to court have been smoking for an average of forty years. The first ten years were understandable, they didn't know the risks. Fair enough. Where the fuck have they been for the last thirty years?!? Living in a cave with no access to media and a lifetime supply of cigarettes without warning labels? Unlikely. Given that the health risks decrease after TEN YEARS, why weren't they accountable to themselves and their loved ones? Why not quit?
"But, but...We're so damn addicted!" Fuck off. There are so many smoking cessation products out there, you have no excuse. In fact, the government will help you. Counselling, gum, pills, patches.. So many options, no motivation.
I was a cold turkey kind of girl but not everybody has my willpower. I'll admit, I tried twice before I finally smoked my last cigarette. I quit when I discovered I was pregnant and started again a few months after she was born. I quit again a few years later and started within a few months again! Finally I got tired of burning money, bad circulation and constant phlegm and quit for good. It was rough for a few days but I got over it. Now it just makes me ill. I have been cigarette smoke-free for almost five years.
Aahhh... There is nothing worse than a hypocritical ex-smoker, eh? Wrong. Lung cancer seems worse. So does impotence. What about that feeling of knowing that your child probably has asthma because you couldn't be bothered to pull the cigarette out of your mouth?
If you want to kill yourself and smell like an ashtray, I don't care. When I have to start paying for your mistakes, then I care. When I inhale your second-hand smoke, I care. When my kid inhales your second-hand smoke, then I really care.
Is Big Tobacco evil? Sure! Should they have to shell out billions of dollars to the people that paid them to inhale deadly smoke into their lungs? No. Do alcoholics sue liquor distributors? Do cola drinkers sue Coca-Cola? "It was the tobacco, beer, cola companies' fault I'm fat, cancerous and/or dead!" Sounds rather asinine doesn't it?
The point here is this: If you know the risks and choose to do it anyway, you should NOT be allowed to sue the company that made the product. End of story.
So to the people doing the suing; pull your fucking heads out of your asses and give up the cigarettes if you are so damn concerned about your health. To my friends and family that continue to smoke; please stop. I rather like you guys and would hate to see you sick and dying due to something you could so easily control.
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