Saturday, January 24, 2015

Letter: E-Ciggaretts Less Deadly Than Tobacco

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:



Dear Editor,

In November, I wrote a letter that was sent to New Jersey legislators suggesting that our state ban traditional cigarettes sales in order to force smokers to switch to less deadly e-cigarettes.

This is already the long-term plan of big tobacco anyway, which expects traditional cigarettes to become a thing of the past in the developed world, with new products ready to be rolled out.

The only one who even gave me the courtesy of a reply made a personal choice argument in favor of keeping cigarettes legal, that sounded coached by tobacco industry lobbyists.

We know that cigarettes are an ugly, highly addictive poison that kills over time. Every year in New Jersey approximately 6,900 youth under age 18 will become new daily smokers, due to big tobacco spending $172 million each year on marketing in New Jersey. Every year 11,800 adults in our state die from a tobacco-related illness.

According to New Jersey logic, it’s fine if I wish to smoke recreational tobacco all day and die of lung cancer. Yet when I consume marijuana as medicine, Governor Christie wants to throw me in jail for up to six months, or years if I get caught sharing it with other patients.

Hypocrisy.

Eric Hafner
Toms River

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