Tobacco unfairly treated

[nzkiwi]

Here in the United States obesity is a bigger problem than tobacco. Perhaps they should start increasing the tax on fast food like they have on tobacco. They could tax a food by its fat or sugar content. And don't get me started on alcohol......

I wonder if there is any relationship between decreased tobacco use in society and increased obesity? I have seen many individuals give up tobacco and put on considerable amounts of weight. The extra weight a person gains after quitting is not healthy either.

Unfortunately Tobacco is looked at as a black and white issue(All tobacco is bad, no tobacco is good). Like everything else in life their are shades of grey(snus).

[Soft Morning, City!]

Seriously. Tax fast food or something. Obesity is a massive problem here (no pun intended). I'll bet the people who eat fast food for all three meals every day are doing themselves farmore damage than I'm doing myself by using snus or smoking a pipe on occasion. Christ, even when I was smoking two packs a day I was probably better off than those people.

[lxskllr]

Re: Tobacco unfairly treated

Here in the United States obesity is a bigger problem than tobacco. Perhaps they should start increasing the tax on fast food like they have on tobacco. They could tax a food by its fat or sugar content. And don't get me started on alcohol......

I wonder if there is any relationship between decreased tobacco use in society and increased obesity? I have seen many individuals give up tobacco and put on considerable amounts of weight. The extra weight a person gains after quitting is not healthy either.

Unfortunately Tobacco is looked at as a black and white issue(All tobacco is bad, no tobacco is good). Like everything else in life their are shades of grey(snus).

I agree with you 100%, well sort of... I think the government needs to get out of the public health arena. If I want to smoke and eat Big Macs, I should be able to without supporting the rest of the country through extra taxes on the things I enjoy. If you're going to take the extra harm=extra tax approach then anything requiring living will have some form of tax on it.

The reason Americans are fat is because they eat too much. When my buddy went to Norway he said he didn't see any fat people. I'll make allowances that maybe a couple got by without him noticing, but in America it seems like 80% of the population is at least a bit overweight, myself included. I think Norway is pretty similar to America as far as tobacco use goes, it's just that their diet is better. More fish, and less double cheeseburgers :^P

[darkwing]

Quitting smoking will slow your metabolism by at least 5%, so even if you do not eat more, you will gain 5% of your weight. At least.

[Kindrd]

If I want to smoke and eat Big Macs, I should be able to without supporting the rest of the country through extra taxes on the things I enjoy

AMEN, brother. Once again personal responsibility. The bigger problem with American obesity is how much Americans work. With most of us only having a week or two of vacation a year, putting in 12 hours a day and women working there is not much time for food prep. This is going to get worse as we try to compete with countrys paying dirt wages. Convenience/quickness becomes key. I am not worried about it though. Anyone who bitches about being fat has never went without food. I don't live in Ethiopia, the rest of the world will just have to deal with it. You are going to die anyway, no matter how skinny you are. Enjoy those last ten years in the Nursing home while your family avoids you. I'll pass and live my life now, thanks.