I just had the pleasure of reading Heather Bell’s column, “Did you know smoking is bad for you?”, the result of which was a strong impression that here is one smoker who is angry with the increased cigarette tax. I have to say, Heather certainly has a right to be angry.

She should be angry that by smoking, she is part of a group that has a higher cancer-risk rate than almost anybody else (with the possible exception of Russian nuclear-power plant workers).

She should be angry she will experience more colds, allergies and ailments than others her age.

She should be angry that she will have “ashtray breath,” that she will have clothes that smell like a smoking lounge, and that she will have teeth the color of 100-year-old ivory.

But most of all, she should be angry with herself. She has taken up a habit which — for her entire life — has been linked to cancer. This is not the 1940s, when the cigarette companies had doctors touting the “healthy” benefits of cigarettes; the hazards of smoking have been known for decades.

Heather was not the victim of a vicious attack courtesy of the cigarette manufacturing industry. They certainly did not tie her up and force her to smoke. If they had, then CM LIFE surely would have run that story by now.

Heather, face facts: you happen to practice a high-risk, moderately offensive pastime. If you don’t like the tax, you do have choices: show some willpower and actually kick the habit. If that won’t do, then move someplace where this tax is non-existent — I would suggest one of the tobacco-growing states — or just do what seems to be the new American solution.

Complain, complain, complain. (But please, not to me!)

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