The Waterkooler

Have we gone Nicotine Nuts in this country?

Nationally, some companies, such as Union Pacific, are refusing to hire smokers. At least one Michigan company, Weyco, let four workers go earlier this year when they refused to quit smoking - at home!

From Weyco firing at-home smokers, to a new bill that would outlaw smoking in cars, to the increasing number of tobacco-related lawsuits, to the number of states outlawing smoking in bars and restaurants, the cigarette makers of this country are fast becoming our favorite bad guys.

And as they become increasingly criminalized, cigarettes are fast becoming targetted by gangs for their black market appeal:

"Police and Customs officers seized at least 300kg of manufactured tobacco and 3.8 tonnes of tobacco leaf, along with machinery and equipment used in its manufacture on Tuesday.

The "truck loads" were taken largely from Motueka Valley as part of an ongoing operation, Customs fraud spokesman Terry Brown said.

But insiders say it is just the tip of the iceberg and estimate that more than 20 tonnes is being grown to be hawked in bars.

With the excise on one tonne worth $376,000, millions in potential tax revenue could be being lost."

Tobacco Resources and Stats

• Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 400,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $50 billion in direct medical costs.
  
  
• Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, and fires - combined! (about 430,000)
  
  
• In addition, smoking costs the U.S. economy at least $100 billion in annual health care expenses and lost productivity.
  
  
• States with smoking bans in bars and restaurants (Love the fact that in Washington DC, smoking is banned in all government buildings - except in Congress)
  
  
• Scholarly articles on smoking bans
  
  
• The United Pro Smokers Rights Newsletter
  
  
• more stats here and here
  
  
• more tobacco lawsuits and stories here
  
  
• tobacco lawsuit timeline
  
  
• Class Action Fairness Act
  
  
• Book: For Your Own Good. A chronicle of the Nanny State, this book provides a powerful and provocative case against America's public health crusaders. The debate over smoking is really more about the nature of liberty--how should a society restrict the choices of its members?--than it is about public health, says author.