All the RAve - the RAnts of RA

I received a very disturbing e-mail today that really bothers me. The American Lung Association is at it again; they are demanding that congress increase the tax on cigarettes by 61-cents per pack. They are blaming "big-tobacco," because they aren't getting it.

The American Lung Association claims they need the money to help treat children with asthma. I have to ask why do they expect smokers to cough up more money to pay for everyone's heath care? Maybe they haven't heard that raw milk can cure asthma and perhaps they should be fighting for our right to drink raw milk, instead of chasing more money from poor folk – you know the ones who smoke, because of stress, yet can't afford to purchase medical insurance for their children.

Having been a previous resident of Michigan, where the economy has been in the toilet for the past ten-years or so. I can tell you that people who are in financial difficulty do not quit smoking, even though it would help their family financially if they did. When stress levels reach the roof, smoking is a release that they can't do without. Increasing the cost of cigarettes thinking it will help others to stop smoking (all while raking in the cash for the children - ha) is what's ridiculous.

Let's stop looking toward smokers to solve our problems and stop the attack on farm fresh – safe raw milk. Our children deserve the best start in life we can give them. Natural, organic, milk boosts the immune system – drugs only weaken the immune system. The choice is simple. If you want to fight asthma drink real milk (raw milk).

Read the E-mail:

Dear Annette,

Big Tobacco thinks it has won. Once again, Congress failed to attain a veto-proof majority for the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Now, the bill faces an expected veto, condemning millions of low-income children—many suffering from asthma and lung disease—to continue to live without health insurance, without access to specialists, without the medications they desperately need.

And the tobacco companies couldn't be happier.

Why does Big Tobacco oppose SCHIP? Because they don't want a 61 cents-per-pack tax increase. Because Big Tobacco doesn't want to discourage smoking. And it's our children who will pay the price. Ridiculous.

It is us versus Big Tobacco – and it is about time that we win. But we need your support to continue the fight.

Increasing the federal cigarette tax is a win-win for children's health; in addition to providing much-needed medical care for our nation's low-income, uninsured youth — including those living with lung diseases such as asthma — this substantial increase of $.61 will have the added benefit of reducing youth smoking.

This isn't about Democrats or Republicans – this is about the health of our children. It's about access to critical medical care, about reducing youth smoking, about breathing easier. Eight in ten Americans—majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents—support the expansion. Yet, Washington is at a crossroads, unable to force the change our children need.

The American Lung Association will continue to fight for this change.

Enough is enough. We demand that our children have the health care they desperately need and we ask that you join us in this important fight.

Thank you for your help,
Bernadette Toomey
President and CEO, American Lung Association

Donation pleas removed.

Labels: American Lung Association, raw milk, smokers, smoking

The liberal leaning states of New York and California led the pack, passing legislation banning non-self-extinguishing cigarettes; many other states are in the process of following their heavy-handed lead.

The state of Illinois will require all cigarettes sold in the state to be self-extinguishing after Jan. 1, 2008. Both Colorado and Iowa are considering passing similar bills. What voters may not realize is they are being hoodwinked. I’m not certain at this point what the monetary motivation is. I do know that "safety" is not the reason behind the push for selling these killer cigarettes.

I supposed this is one way to rid the country of smokers because these cigarettes will kill us off, slowly, one-by-one. The premise behind the push for these so-called self-extinguishing cigarettes is that the cigarette will go out when it is dropped or sitting in an ashtray, and therefore not ignite a careless home fire.

The problem is -- well the problem with these cigarettes are numerous. They don’t go out when they sit in an ashtray, but they do go out while you are holding them. In order to keep them lit you have to suck like a baby on a bottle with a teeny-tiny hole that won’t allow the milk to pass through.

California’s self-extinguishing cigarette law went into effect in January. I can’t sleep at night because I’ve got the granddaddy of smokers’ coughs. Each night when I lay down to sleep it starts. I’ve been smoking for many years (29) and I’ve never had a cough like this in my life.

I didn’t put two and two together, until I had the opportunity to pick up some cigarettes recently while visiting family in Nevada. Low and behold – after smoking only one pack of "regular" cigarettes, my cough was gone but as soon as I started smoking California regulated cigarettes the cough was back in full force.

Which brings me to the next problem; the cigarettes burn unevenly. In attempts to keep the cigarette lit, without blowing out my lungs, I’ve tried relighting it with a lighter, only to have it flare up and almost scorch my eye browse. Many times the paper bands around the cigarette refuse to burn off and end up landing on me causing me to burn my fingers and sometimes even my clothing.

I’ve put more holes in my clothes since California passed this menacing law than I did when I was first learning to smoke. It’s down right painful, not to mention embarrassing.

These new "banded" cigarettes are a health hazard to smokers, causing unnecessary burns, chest pains, uncontrollable coughing jags and should be permanently banned. Voters in states consider implementing these horrid cigarettes should think twice before they further endanger their health. It's bad enough we are told everyday how smoking is bad for us by every self-important well-meaning non-smoker on the face of the planet, and now they seem hell-bent on making it so.

I have a choice to make:

• I can spend years trying to fight this new law;
• I can attempt to bring a class action lawsuit against the state of California;
• I can move to a new state that doesn’t force banded cigarettes on their citizens; or
• I can break the law and go to a neighboring state to purchase my cigarettes, risking jail and/or a fine.

These are tough choices; one I shouldn't be forced into making.

Vote NO on "banded" or "self-extinguishing" cigarette laws being legislated in your state. The life you save could be your own.

Labels: banded cigarettes, legislation, self-extinguishing cigarettes, smokers, smoking