Ken Knorr's letter about cig pack pics

[Dave_1963]

Ken, you hit it on the head. Thank you for pointing out the descrimination against smokers. I have written to Health Canada about their policies, yet never get a reply (except when they said nicotine is not a drug). I agree 110% that other "unhealthy" products should be forced to have graphic pictures printed on the labels if Health Canada is only forcing this on cigarette packages. A person can smoke for a lifetime, and never develop cancer.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -get-lung/

So, you smoke for 50 years and maybe get ill. But one single night of drinking can result in innocent people being killed by a drunk driver in an instant. Why are there no pictures of impaired driving victims on liquor bottles? Why are there no pictures of clogged arteries on Big Mac containers? Why are there no pictures of highway accident victims on high performance cars capable of doing almost 200 MPH? These pictures on cigarette packs have been altered. The one with a dead brain is a perfect examlpe. Since when can a dead organ bleed? A persons heart must be beating for bleeding to occur.

I've smoked for 40 years, and just had a complete physical. 100% lung function on my emphasema test. The doctor listened to my lungs for a good 4 minutes, and could not believe I have smoked for 40 years. I believe that certain people are genetically predisposed to develop cancer. I am not condoning smoking, but it seems to be the easiest target for zealots to go after.

The other thing that really bothers me is the removal of "tar and nicotine" levels on cigarette packs. I thought Canada was a "Harm Reduction" country. I go for the highest nicotine smoke on the market. 1 pack of these (can't mention brand names, but each cig has 3.1 Mg. of nicotine). I found them just before the nicotine levels were removed. Other cigarettes may have only .03 Mg. of nicotine. A pack of the smokes I buy lasts me for 4-5 days. I have 3 puffs, and I'm good to go. I recently tried a new brand, which barely had any nicotine. Smoked 2 packs in one day! Is this "Harm Reduction"? It is the "tar" that is harmful, not the nicotine.

My other point is every drug product on the market, must by law clearly state the amount of drug per dose. I contacted Health Canada about this, and their response was "Nicotine is not a drug". Well then why do the cards in smoke packs say "Nicotine is the drug in tobacco that causes addiction"? Pretty hypocritical isn't it?

Finally, why did BC stop enforcing the age laws for smoking in 1970, then re-impliment them again in 1991, coincidentally the same day they raised the price of a pouch of tobacco from $1.98 to almost $17 Maybe to ensure a customer base for years? I remember moving here from Alberta in 1970, and was totally surprised that any store would sell cigarettes to even a 4 year old. In Alberta, the smoking age was strictly enforced.

Thanks Ken for having the guts to point out how unfairly us smokers are treated. Now Kelowna has banned e-cigs in parks? I will not follow that law and will smoke in any park I please. This is supposed to be a "free country", but obviously "free" only applies to those who follow this Nanny state's stupid rules.

[skydawg]

Boo Hoo. Poor baby smokers feel picked on

[Captain Awesome]

Whoa. This is huge. This story might be even bigger than stores not giving you deposits on your empty bottles back.

[flamingfingers]

Nowadays if you smoke tobacco, everything from your dandruff, your high blood pressure, your carious teeth, your stomach aches and pains, your decreased libido, enlarged prostate, varicose veins and toenail fungal infections are blamed on the fact of you being a 'smoker'. It's the prejudice of the day and society is quite comfortable with it.

[Lore]

To much protesting here and I am sensing a lot of denial.
Years ago my Dr. told me that half of the people who smoke
will die because of it. Can't fight the facts.
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/smoking-the-facts

[Dave_1963]

Well, smokes have got me through the hardest times in my life. Believe what you wanna believe, I will never quit. If I ever DO get cancer, rest assured I will not take any medical treatment and cost the taxpayers any $$$. It was my choice, and I will deal with any consequences on my own. I will not burden the taxpayers because of a choice that I made, although I wish stores would have not sold smokes to minors for 22 some-odd years. I get a lot of people angry with my posts, but Ken was right with his letter. These forums are so full of bigots, I only bother posting once as I know that all the haters will attack me. No more input on this topic from me! I have gone on forums from everywhere to Rochester, NY, to Los Angeles, and I have NEVER seen so many biased people in my life than on Castanet. I'll just light up another smoke, and let you guys rage all you want! :)

[WeatherWoman]

You must have had a brain fart the first day you decided to light up. Now, new research shows that continuing to smoke can shrivel your brain—it can actually cause key tissues in there to thin, according to a study in Molecular Psychiatry.


In the study, the researchers found that cigarette smokers had slimmer cortexes—the outer portion of the brain that’s crucial for cognition—than those who avoided the problematic pastime. What’s more, for each year the participants puffed away, the amount of thinning in that region of their brains increased.

If that's what you wanna do..fine...BUT I don't want to be exposed to it nor do I want to have my children exposed to it.

[Dave_1963]

I knew there would be a lot of "haters" when I posted this. After smoking for 40 years with no ill effects, I stand by what I said. For the cigarette haters, if it were not for us smokers (who plug billions into the health-care system), you would be paying way more for gasoline and alcohol. The world is FULL of dangerous stuff. A few years back, they removed all carpets in my son's school as they give off poisonous formalehyde and cyanide vapors. There are so many pollutants in our air, cigarettes should be the least of our worries. I live next to a major highway, and twice a year, I have to clean the black tar from our house caused by diesel trucks going past (over 100/day). I have never had to clean tar from our house due to cigarette smoke.

BTW, I have volunteered twice to oversee schizophrenic boarding homes. Over 90% of the patients are heavy smokers.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/09/08 ... 59285.html

These men must spend their entire monthly allowance to buy cigarettes. I believe the government should make "prescription" tobacco available to those who need it at a low cost.

I stand by my opinion, and will step down from this thread, as it seems too many people have their blinders on. I have been on every forum from Rochester, NY, to Los Angeles California, and I have never seen more racist/prejudiced posters than right here in Kelowna on Castanet. Google is your friend. Do some research before you condemn us smokers. See y'all!

Cigarette lover and supporter.

[Dave_1963]

One last thing...how is a "brain fart" responsible for me becoming a smoker when as a kid when anyone could buy cigarettes? This is purely a govt. ploy to have ensured a few more generations of smokers to feed money into the system. If the laws pertaining to smoking age had been properly enforced, I would have never become a smoker in the first place. How do you expect a 7 year old to make "the right choice" when every store ignored the law and sold smokes to anyone.

And to pick on me for revealing that gas stations are ripping people off on bottle deposits is insane. Grab a brain. I stopped a bunch of plastic bottles from polluting our town with the plastic bottles they refused to refund. Is that so bad??? They couldn't even find MH380 because of all the plastic floating in our ocean's. Even taking 50 plasic bottles from the street has made a slight improvement to our world.

Thanks for lambasting someone who is trying to make our world a better place!

[mexi cali]

Dave. All is lost my friend. I admire your conviction but not your addiction.

You are correct in your statement about other types of potentially harmful products not requiring labels but I have to ask, so what?

I won't ask you what your point is because I know what it is. You are trying to defend the indefensible and no one (almost) is buying it.

You are also correct when you make the point about smoking not necessarily leading to cancer but lets be real, the number of people who will develop some form of cancer or other smoking related disease is high. There is no conspiracy attached to the numbers. The stuff is deadly.

You are petulantly trying to justify a disgusting habit my friend and it is ridiculous.

I smoked for almost 30 years. My choice to start and my choice to quit.

I paid my dues and decided to be one of the more enlightened ones when I made the decision to quit. There was never any argument on my part as far as understanding the dangers of smoking or the way I STUNK because I smoked.

I believe that most smokers, the ones being honest about their habit, will tell you that if they could quit without the withdrawal symptoms or the cravings, they would. There is no magic bullet to quitting. It is hard and the cravings are strong.

But then, something magical happens. It becomes less hard and the cravings become less strong and then suddenly, there you are! A reformed smoker. How is that a bad thing?


Smoke or don't smoke Dave but do not try to paint it with any brush other than the one it deserves.

And the comment about you smoking your E-cigs anywhere you damn well please? That about sums it up.

[Dave_1963]

"Captain Awesome" you call yourself? Well, how "Awesome" is it to see 98% of stores breaking the recycling laws set by our province? Is it not "Awesome" that I brought to light this crime (yes, crime)? Obviously you did not see the entire story on bottle deposits in BC. Every store the reporter went to refused refunds on bottles, even though they gladly charge it. How is my bringing this crime to the publics attention a "Woah" moment? Your ridicule of me and my fight to make companies adhere to the law has nothing to do with my support of Ken's letter. You know, when you buy a battery or tires for you car, you are charged an "enviro fee"? You get $5 on every old car battery you bring back (because you paid deposit). Would you like it if the auto store charged you a deposit on a battery, then refused to return the deposit? How about all the 5 gallon water jugs with a $5 deposit? Wouldn't it kinda get your ire if they refused to refund your $5/jug? Are you not peeved at gas being almost $6/gallon when oil is in the $40/barrel range?, yet the oil/gas companies/crooks thought they could now get away with nickel and diming us on bottle deposits (which add up to millions of $$$/year). Did you not see the CEO of Shell Canada being at a loss for words on refusal to return deposits? I brought to light a major crime.

You must be rich! That must be nict to throw away all your bottles/cans and not have to worry about a deposit. Well, I have not much money. 5-2 litre pop bottles can buy me a loaf of bread that lasts 4 days. I don't care...if I am even ripped off by .1 cent, I get *bleep*. A rip-off is a theft, no matter if it is 1 cent or 50 million dollars.

So I start a thread about a completely different subject, and you lambaste me over something not even remotely connected to my new thread? Well, "Captain", I do not think your are "Awesome" at all. Just another "Castanut" I guess....

Big deal if I smoke. Why don't you get off your butt and try to find something worthwhile to do, instead of harping on someone for reporting a crime?

[Static]

F

[Static]

From what I understand, tobacco companies no longer have to advertise that tobacco causes lung cancer because the rates of lung cancer are not declining with the amount of smokers. There is no positive correlation between the two.

Overweight people should be the next target for the anti-smokers to go after. They cost the taxpayer far more than smokers. Tobacco tax is profitable for the government once all the medical treatments associated with the habit are taken into consideration. The numerous diseases caused by poor eating habits and lack of excersize is a burden on the tax system.

I agree smoking should not be allowed inside public places, but allow them certain areas to smoke. It's time to leave them alone and go after the overweight population which is much larger than the smoking population.

[mexi cali]

Given that you don't have much money, what is it in your life that you are sacrificing so that you can support your habit?

[davis123]

Given that you don't have much money, what is it in your life that you are sacrificing so that you can support your habit?

I would say it is likely none of your business!

People assume smoking costs hundreds or thousands a month, I am a heavy smoker, probably a pack to two a day, I roll my own, costs me 120$ a month. How much do you spend on starbucks, tims, eating out, alcohol, etc etc etc? I think everyone is allowed to have that little luxury they spend money on, so what if mine or anyone elses' is smokes?