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I was just watching an anti-smoking ad on tv where one of the speakers was challenging a tobacco company to stick to their statement about closing down their company for a period of time if they were to have it proven (enough to satisfy them) that smoking causes cancer. They put on their website that smoking causes cancer, but the company didn't close.

Now I don't smoke. I think it's disgusting. However, I am very against people trying to tell others what to do. I am also really irritated with all of the people who automatically assume that if all of the tobacco companies were to close down that the world would be a better place.

I'm sure that the tobacco leader did remember his statement when they put the little info about smoking on their website. However if he closed the company people would be out of jobs. Now these aren't just the people who are higher up, these are people on the assembly lines, people in the stores: people who rely on that paycheck to live. Maybe some could find other jobs, but not everyone. There are millions of people who are dependent on the smoking companies for paychecks. Why can't some of the anti-smoking people understand that if the tobacco companies were to close down it'd put our country into a major depression? Why can't they appreciate that smoking is a choice that each person makes? Sure there is marketing everywhere, but in the end it is ME--not them, not my friends, not my boss- ME that makes the choice whether to smoke or not. A lot of my friends in school smoked. A lot of my friends in college smoke. A lot of my coworkers smoke. Not once did any of them ever think less of me because I told them that I don't smoke. And not once did I ever tell them that I thought less of them for their choice to smoke.

Sorry for the rant, but I hate how short sighted & biased 99% of these anti-tobacco ads are.