ATF: Alcohol, Tobacco and Food!

Ok, here goes yet another rant.  As I sit here drinking my Pepsi Next, and smoking a fine Native American cigarette from our local Seneca tribe, it occurred to me how hypocritical the Surgeon General is.

            If you’re a smoker, like I am, you are no doubt aware of the Surgeon General’s warning on the side of a pack of cigarettes warning you of the dangers of smoking, using chewing tobacco, snuff, and a number of other tobacco products. These warnings vary their message but basically tell you that by using tobacco you are signing your death warrant.

First off, I think everyone alive with at least a 2^nd grade education knows that tobacco is not good for you. Why must I be reminded of it every time I pick up a pack of cigarettes? And if something is such a horrible menace to society, why not just make it illegal? Oh that’s right, because every time the government needs more money, they just raise taxes on tobacco. They can’t make it illegal because then they will have killed the golden goose.  Of course they say that money goes to offset the cost of medical bills for smokers, but if so, how do I apply for this free medical insurance that I pay for whenever I buy cigarettes? Oh I can’t? How convenient.

Now they are thinking of putting pictures of diseased lungs on packs of cigarettes. They constantly have commercials on TV with people breathing through stomas and dying of lung cancer and kids with asthma inhalers and blah blah blah. Its just annoying.

And how about the warning on the side of liquor bottles that informs you that alcohol is bad for you and your unborn child? Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t know that alcohol is bad for you?

Now to the point of my rant: Heart disease and obesity related illness take more lives than cigarette smoking, yet there are no pictures of diseased fatty hearts and clogged arteries on the side of McDonald’s french-fry containers? There are no commercials showing morbidly obese people being hauled away on stretchers. No Surgeon General’s warnings on Double Whopper wrappers?

Logging on to the Surgeon General’s website I found FOUR anti-tobacco related items just on the homepage! NOTHING on obesity and only 1 item on “A Healthy & Fit Nation.”

Instead of going after the “evil” tobacco companies (who admit their product is unsafe) the government should look into putting some regulations on fast food giants who sell a “value meal” as something you should eat when they know full well their customers are consuming more calories in one meal than the average person should consume in a day and a half!

Currently in New York a pack of cigarettes costs about $10. With that you can buy 10 double cheeseburgers at one of the fine nationwide fast food chains, which would add up to about 4,400 calories or 2 medium Big Mac value meals at about 2,000 calories and don't get me started on the fat. Heart disease and adult onset diabetes, now THAT’S what I call a value!