Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for November 09, 2014

The tobacco companies should ask for their money back.

Hmmmm, all that “free” money. The Red states should just refuse on principle and give it to the Blue states.

Those smokin’ kids are just performing late term abortions on themselves. It is their right and we should pay for it.

lame – Mr Butts would never talk this way. He’d be deliriously happy.

And the tobacco states just added it to the growers federal subsidies?

Why not just get it over with and make tobacco illegal? Because that’s working so well for pot.

You can’t just throw infinite money at propaganda campaigns and expect proportional results. Tom Steyer found that out last week.

Interesting idea. I would vote for it on principle. Problem is, this approach would and could be applied to any device or product that has been proven to cause harm, such as alcohol. The drinkin’ kind. Then you get the cars and guns people involved. Cars and guns don’t inherently injure people, but you can bet there would be litigation to prove otherwise. Then we get the trickle down effect. Anything and everything that causes injury or death can be “billed” to the manufacturer and possibly the retailer. Where would it stop? Jeez, I can’t think of any “product” more injurious than war. Who takes care of those folks who come home needing help? The Government? Well, maybe a little, but who ultimately pays for that?… Sorry this turned into a bit of a rant, but yes, “product liability” has all sorts of precedent. Just thought of an example right here at home. I live in Missouri, where motorcyclists are required to wear helmets. Literally across the street from me is Kansas, where they are not required. To me, that is the same issue as requiring seatbelts in a car. Safety, yes, but the cost of a lifetime of medical care is the bigger issue to the corporations who make our laws.Again, sorry for the rant, but I’ve only had one cup of coffee. Also, Mr. Butts isn’t protesting the kids’ smoking. He’s always been a bit down on the politicians who won’t do as they’re told. I don’t think Butts wants to be out of job anytime soon.

You should get off your own soapbox. You definitely missed the point of the strip. This was more about the States than actually kids smoking.

States suck! I know. I’m from New Jersey. Not even the lowest gas prices in the country ($2.57/gal for me yesterday) can make NJ not suck.

Motorcycles are dangerous enough even with a helmet. ER docs call them suicycles and cops call them homicycles.

But that’s legal pot, not tobacco, that they are smoking.

GT is right, don’t like the cartoon? Don’t read it.

Smoking should be illegal, period. There is no reasonable justification for it to exist, much less subsidised.

Maybe the Courts could find a way to nationalize the tobacco industry then simply close it down? A Prohibition – prosecute those who continue it and fine the victims. Pretty radical, but it should be classified as an illegal drug/narcotic.It isn’t free will to be a smoker; it’s addiction, plain and simple. I’m ex smoker, obviously.

CA used to have a very active campaign on state and local levels until the money was diverted. Not merely advertising but supporting the public health care systems, like county clinic expansions and hospitals.

GT is not addressing legal pot in the strip. Only 4 states now have legal pot, and I am not sure it is a good idea either, though I know many disagree. Seatbelt laws have been effective. Wearing a helmet should be even easier to enforce since it is pretty easy to spot a bike rider without a helmet. Those who suffer traumatic brain injury and other injuries have a long road ahead and the rest tend to be fatalities. Insurance rates could go down if folks would take proper precautions and laws could be enforced. Anyone who doesn’t think that seatbelt laws are helpful should go to an ER and talk to the folks who see young kids who come in who were in car accidents without a car seat or the older person who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Tell them all about how ineffective seatbelt laws are and I am sure you will get some pushback. Not only would I say that it is untrue that they never work, it is empirically obvious that they are working, as statistics bear this out as well as the few among us who aren’t wearing helmets, seatbelts and not in car seats who get into accidents easily help us see that they are needed. Educating teens about smoking is important too. I am sure it has been helpful that they are no longer as available in vending machines and the places where smoking is allowed has become much more restricted than in the past. I want my freedom from smoke protected too.

packratjohn Getting the insurance business to log in is increasingly how realistic discussion of true costs gets added to the sound and fury around guns and climate change. AN actuary is just not going to let you buy on the beach any more.

It is perfectly legal to grow your own tobacco and pay no taxes. However, like home beer or wine making, it is sensible to learn and follow the basic procedures that others have already worked out. FWIW, I am a lifelong non-smoker, and would rather not be smoked around.http://heirloomtobacco.com/Resources.html

The money should only go to fund medicare and Medicaid and help supplement health insurance bought on the exchanges. Especially medicare as that is when the health issues of smoking start to kick in, with emphysema, cancer, heart problems, etc. As for legalizing pot, I ask, we are the United States of America, do we really want to go down that road? There is enough abuse with alcohol, we don’t need to add to it.

So the money should have been spent on ads and not personal projects? Not sure New Hampshire’s leaders ever wanted to do that, or North Carolina’s, or especially California’s.

BTW, making smoking illegal may not drop usage to zero but it would drp usage a lot. When they made heroin illegal over a century ago usage of opium dropped like a stone but some still use it today. Do you want opium legalized again, to go back to that mess of a life???

Many years ago, some states, Kansas included, had laws in which people 18 years + could buy what was called 3.2% beer. They couldn’t buy any other alcoholic beverage, but they could have that. Then, along came a federal highway fund initiative, which stated that states would not get federal highway funds unless they uniformly agreed to not allow alcoholic beverages to be sold to people younger than 21 years old. The 3.2% beer for 18 year olds went away. We probably didn’t need more teens who were drunk driving around and in the meantime, we got more funding for our highways. Probably for the best. On the other hand, Kansas still has some pretty silly laws about where people over 21 can buy liquor. You can’t buy it in a grocery store, for example.

Remove farm subsidy payments for tobacco crops.

Remove subsidy payments for all crops.

I had no idea tobacco was so terrible. From now on I’m going to smoke safe and healthy crack.

Soon we will get to see a new Kevin Spacey movie, about Elvis and Nixon. Elvis wanted to save americans from drugs, hippies and the Beatles. He was made an honorary agent against drugs. He later died of an overdose of prescription drugs.

@krcaddis“Smoking should be illegal, period.”-“It is that simpleminded mentality that has given us multi million cartels, beheadings, terror, and corruption for a century. You want more? Not me.”.Just wanted to remind you that every now and then I agree with you. This is one of those times.

Great comment! You reminded me of some very important points from those hearings. Yes, tobacco is terrible. Many of us have seen what happens to smokers down the road. Lung cancer is a very painful death.

Overlooked is the fact that if not for finding tobacco when they didn’t find gold, the English would have left the “new world”, and we’d all be speaking Spanish. Tobacco put North America on the map in merry old England.

Sadly, you’re right about kids knowing the dangers. They also know about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs, STDs, pregnancy, etc., but it still doesn’t stop a certain percentage of them from thinking they’re bulletproof. The human race is far too stupid to stop these self-destructive behaviors completely.

I thought the point was that states do not use the money allocated to them for what it was meant to pay for. Much like that social security system that is “going broke” largely because it has been used to pay for everything from Ritalin to war. Our tax dollars just become a big slush fund and govts at all levels just use them for whatever project they see fit — regardless of what the money was designated for originally.

I shall be holding my breath.

Wait – where the HECK is Et Al? Been to AL, but Et Al?