Gov’t Sues Tobacco Companies – Really?

If this wasn’t such a serious topic, it would almost be funny.

1. Farmers, who want to earn a living, grow tobacco for big tobacco companies.
2. Big tobacco companies buy the tobacco to turn into cigarettes and chewing tobacco.
3. Big tobacco companies spend millions and millions of dollars on salaries, production, advertising, and sales.
4. Government rakes in millions and millions of dollars on income tax from tobacco company employees, sales (and other) tax on equipment purchased, gas employees use to get to work, and so on.
5. Big tobacco companies rake in millions and millions of dollars in profit.
6. Smokers get sick from using big tobacco company’s products.
7. Smokers get very expensive medical treatment paid for by insurance companies or government programs (United States) or the government (Canada).
8. Government says “hey, that’s not fair! You big tobacco companies are costing us money because of your product so you should have to cover the cost of medical care.”
9. Government sues Big Tobacco Industry.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture at all? And, the best part of this is, who gets rich? Not the smoker, not the government, not really the tobacco company. The ones who get rich are the lawyers who are working on these lawsuits.

So, tell me again, what’s wrong with this picture?

This comes up every so often and has now come up again in the Canadian province of Quebec. Medical care in Canada is taken care of by the provinces, not the federal government.

According to an article over at CBC news earlier this month, the Quebec government is gearing up to file a $30 billion lawsuit against the tobacco interest to recoup some of the almost %1 billion dollars annually that the government must spend on smoking-related illnesses.

I don’t smoke and I don’t like smoking. The smell of the cigarette smoke makes me ill. But I also believe that since tobacco is a legal product, the government can’t be ticked off that it’s causing problems with people’s health. Does the government sue car manufacturers for making cars go faster than they should? Do they sue swimming pool manufacturers because some people drown? Are gun-makers sued because someone shoots someone?

How is smoking any different? If the government wants people to stop smoking, there’s only one way to start and that’s by making tobacco illegal. Sure, it wouldn’t stop smoking altogether – after all, people still do illicit drugs and alcohol was readily available during Prohibition. But it would be a start. With a ban on tobacco, teens couldn’t start lighting up at school. Office workers wouldn’t be huddled outside office buildings, blocking the doors, while they run outside for a puff.

But, suing the very people the government is making so much money from – the tobacco industry? That’s a little much, I think.

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Image: MorgueFile.com