Your editorial concerning the tobacco bill shows once again your lack of understanding of nearly everything about which you comment. This bill is about hundreds of billions of dollars to fund spending programs, tax cuts, fill the pockets of the vultures known as personal injury lawyers, huge contributors to the Democrats and letting our beloved president claim a balanced budget.
Every state has laws prohibiting underage smoking. Teens account for approximately 2 percent of tobacco use. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that 34 percent of smokers are those who earn less than $ 15,000 annually. These who can least afford it will be hit the hardest by the miserable hypocrites who claim to be the benefactors of these very people. If the concern is teen smoking, why not a single word said, or single dollar spent on illegal drug or alcohol use, which cause the deaths of thousands of teenagers each year?
Politicians will reduce teenage smoking at the same rate they have reduced drug use, teen pregnancy, lowered cable bills, conserved water with the new useless toilets, saved children's lives with airbags and eliminated poverty.
Tony Moschetti
High Point
News & Record
June 30, 1998
