The Moral War For Children

The most important moral battleground for children is the battle to prevent the harm and damage done to children by tobacco. While Congress and even state legislators are under constant lobby pressure to let big tobacco companies have special rights not afforded any other harmful drug addiction, there are a few beacons of light in this moral battle to protect children from this insidious drug addiction that harms and destroys lives.

Tobaccofreekids.org is one of these points of light. Not only through education but by legal means does this organization struggle against the far better financed tobacco lobby machine. One special right that the tobacco industry has is the ability not to fall under FDA regulation. With a Supreme Court that is heavily tilted to big business interests, a past Supreme Court decision allowed big tobacco special rights not to fall under FDA regulation like all other highly addictive and damaging drugs. Tobaccofreekids.org is strongly supporting efforts in congress such as S.666-sponsored by Senators Mike DeWine(R-OH) and Edward Kennedy(D-MA) and HR1376 sponsored by Tom Davis(R-VA) and Henry Waxman(D-CA) is override the Supreme Court decision and to place tobacco under FDA regulation like all other drugs are.

These important bills will remove the very harmful and addictive additives that tobacco companies place into tobacco, as well as force other important changes including any marketing that is intended to attract children. Candy flovered cigarettes are something that has lured many children into starting to smoke.

And in some exclusive comments to me from the office of Senator Gordon Smith(R-OR), "I remain committed to reducing the widespread use of tobacco products and preventing an increase in the growing number of smoking-related illnesses". Senator Smith also supported the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (S.2461) last year. And Senator Smith is well aware of the moral problem of severe health injury caused to children by tobacco, as Senator Smith believes "Given the troubling effects of cigarette addiction and the alarming prevalence of tobacco use among our nations's youth, I recognize that more must be done". And that "Tobacco use is a major health problem in America, and like you(Paul), I believe our government must address the damage it is doing to the health of our citizens".

The tobacco lobby is very powerful, it reaches nearly lawmaker in America in America. Even the current U.S. Attorney General is bowing to big tobacco pressure to reduce the latest tobacco settlement to a mere $14 billion from a figure nearly 10 times higher. Yet some lawmakers with a strong religious, ethical or moral values system are strongly resisting the strong arm of the tobacco industry. Senator Smith is a Elder in the Latter Day Saint's Church. And this church has a strong tradition of respect for the body as a temple of God. Tobacco is a dirty thing that defiles the body. And when some people choose to smoke in public, it forces this dirty thing into the bodies of those who have religious objections to tobacco as a defiling element, have health problems or even spreads the dangers of nicotine drug addiction to others.

Tobacco smoke contains 4,700 poisons including heavy metals such as nickel or cadmuim. It contains tars and other poisons that stick to the lungs, throat, tongue, sinuses and inner ears of nonsmokers when smokers smoke in public places such as in traffic, on public streets, in store parking lots, in store entrances. I'm forced to drive in traffic with my windows rolled up on a hot day like today. And despite the rolled up windows, a smoker in heavy traffic who did not roll up their windows allowed cigarette smoke to seep into my car today, and I started coughing and went throught the rest of the day with a nasty sore throat. In fact nearly every day this summer, some rude smoker who chooses to smoke in public places has made me very ill. Painful ear infections, lung infections, nasty sore throats, tongue swelling, throat swelling, sinus burning and other problems caused to me on a near daily basis from smokers with their secondhand smoke. And if this cause me problems, then what about children? In a small state like Oregon, 300,000 children are made ill each year by smokers with secondhand smoke. And some with asthma may even die. Others will develop cancer. Others become nicotine drug addicts because when adults force this drug on children or unwilling adults it can spread this drug addiction to others.

The smoker is little more than a selfish drug addict. Their nicotine drug addiction is so out of control that they must practice it in public on an increasing basis. Yet they can hide behind special rights afforded these drug addicts not afforded the pothead, meth addict or crackhead. And their selfish drug addiction hurts others. It can be fatal to someone with asthma or someone allergic to cigarette smoke. It drives up public welfare costs. It increases insurance and public health costs. It costs American industry billions in lost productivity. The battle to end this dirty drug addiction and to outlaw all forms of public smoking are a moral and religious war to save an entire generation of children from shortened and less healthy lives that are quality destroyed by the selfish and immoral nicotine drug addiction of smokers. This is indeed an important moral war to protect children.