When Are We Old Enough To Make Smart Choices? (Commentary)
This is a reaction to the reaction to the $3 billion damages awarded to lung cancer victim Richard Boeken. It suggests that as adults, we have a responsibility to make healthy choices for our children.
(PRWEB) June 18, 2001
When Are We Old Enough to Make Smart Choices?
I knew it would come, the barbs and insulting references about the $3 billion awarded to cancer victim Richard Boeken was excessive. And Saturday
A newspaper columnist compared lung cancer victims to people who overeat.
Let's get a few things straight about comparing tobacco to food. If we subscribe to the notion of a Creator or God, then we might assume that the
Primary purpose of food is to sustain us. The sugary, fatty and carb-loaded foods also have the potential to kill us if we use them unwisely.
On the other hand, cured tobacco is the only product that, when used as directed, simply kills you. Nicotine is defined first as a poison. Nearly a half-million Americans die prematurely every year due to smoking tobacco.
There is no upside to tobacco, other than that its use helps those addicted to feel better, very temporarily. It delivers basically the same thing that a fix does for any drug user.
When we award $3 billion dollars to the victim of lung cancer, it isn't about making him richer. It is about saying to tobacco companies: "Don't corrupt our youth with your poison." If, indeed, Big Tobacco ends up paying
That $3 billion--probably an unlikely event after the appeals process winds its course-- then the other positive impact of this case will be that it
Will cost more to buy tobacco products. We've proven that when the price goes up, demand for cigarettes goes down.
If nobody ever started smoking until they were the age of 21, then complainers about the Boeken award amount might have a valid point. The
Heart of the issue though, is that when you're 11 years old, you have not matured enough to make important decisions. When you combine that fact with the substantial evidence that tobacco companies have a long record of marketing their products to minors, then our society has a duty to stand up and do something about it. The vast majority of all smokers start smoking before they are 14 years old. By the time they are old enough to think about whether that was a good idea, many of them feel addicted, unable to
Stop.
In the course of my work as a smoking cessation coach, I've heard it over and over: "I just don't think I can quit. It's too hard. I started when I was 12 and smoking is like a part of who I am."
As adults, we are challenged to take responsibility for our decisions, for
Our lives. It is also our responsibility to look out for the best interests of our kids. One of the interesting things about human nature is that we tend to crave foods that are not good for us. It's so natural for a second grade student to go for the pizza and Pepsi if that is part of their
School's lunch menu. They get a little bit of a high from the caffeine and some short-term satisfaction from the fatty pizza. They are simply not old enough to realize the damage they can do from overindulgence.
If youth obesity and school-age smoking are both increasing, it is time for us adults to take a stronger stand on whether our kids smoke, what they eat and how they develop healthier habits. They are just not old enough to figure
It out by themselves.
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Charles Tedesco is founder of Smoking Release Associates of La Quinta, California. His company has developed products and services for smoking
Cessation. The SRA web site is www. SmokingRelease. com He may be reached at
Ct@smokingrelease. com
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Note to the media: Charles Tedesco may be reached at 760_771-9535. That number is not for publication, please.
