Tobacco Taxes Kansas's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.790 Kansas's excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2002: $49,197,000 Sales tax on tobacco products: 5.30% Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39 Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000

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Plagiarism

An editorial submitted numerous times with different signatures has recently appeared in the Wichita Eagle and elsewhere where Kansas communities contemplate a smoking ban.  I've seen the same editorial in various newspapers across the country.  The editorial signed by members of the Anti Smokers HG&C claim there are 4,000 chemicals in second hand tobacco smoke and that thousands die each year from exposure to them, their leitmotif.

 At first I wasn't going to bother, after all it is amusing to read the yammering of these niggling people.  There is no sense in wasting my time illustrating the absurdity of these claims.  People believe the second hand tobacco smoke myth because they want to. But, the more I thought about what was said the more incredulous the claims became.

The anti smokers HG&C claim that effluvium from cigarettes, cigars, etc. is harmful.  Their intent is to scare the hell out of folks.  I say these clowns are liars, cheats, thieves, and cowards.

The 84th edition, the latest, of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics list about 11,000 chemicals.    Tobacco smoke has 4,000 of these chemicals in it?  Oooowee, that's a lot.  It is hard to believe.  Imagine one lowly little plant contains 36% of the known chemicals.  Potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants are kissing cousins to tobacco.  Do they have the same number of chemicals in them?  Does DOW Chemical Company know about this?  They could save a lot of money.

The federal government publishes a biennial report, NTP, National Toxicology Program.  The latest report, 2002, added 16 new substances to its official list of "known" human carcinogens. These substances are "known" or "reasonably anticipate" to pose a risk. This new listing brings the total of substances in the report to 228, just a wee bit shy of 4,000.  *See below for excerpts from the report.  Yep, according to members of the anti smokers HG&C I guess tobacco smoke must have steroidal estrogen as well as many other just as comical substances in it.  Do you believe that? You can look up the list yourself.  Put NTP in the search section of your browser and go to the government page or any of the other non-government pages, the complete list is available.  See how many jokes you can come up with.  And be sure to note the dose required of each chemical compound required for toxicity.  I kind of estimated.  I figured you would have to spend at least thirty thousand years in the smokiest bar in the world to receive a toxic dose of any of the chemicals listed at the part per billions or trillions rate of any substance that might be contained or emitted in tobacco smoke.  Well, shoot there goes my get rich quick scheme on starting a chemical factory.  Don't think I will last 30,000 years. 

Now, here's the big lie.  Anti smokers claim that thousands die each year from exposure to second hand tobacco smoke, what a hoot.  Do you know of anyone?  I don't.  I've been trying to find someone for over 10 years.  I have offered a reward but no takers.  Millions of people have read the offer or heard me make the offer.  You can't get an infection from tobacco smoke, there are no germs, viruses, or bacteria present in tobacco smoke.  There are no pathogens of any kind.  The members of the anti smokers HG&C are execrable. 

This stuff is easy to look up.  I understand why legislators can't find this stuff, most of them can't read but the rest of you should at least be curious.  The thing that chaps my hide is that I am subjected to the profligate ravings of these jesters.  Oh well, perhaps they will dress up in their butthead costumes and parade for the TV audience.  At least I will get a chuckle.

I prefer a total ban on tobacco.  That way smokers would get out from under the oppressive laws and thievery, some call it taxes.  I am sure most smokers would rather deal with "black market" profiteers than the government and a bunch of fractious boobs.  Of course they would risk going to jail but big deal.  This will not happen because the government, public health quacks, and parasitic health groups would have to take a substantial pay cut.  The irony is that these pretentious self-righteous people live off of tobacco.

*Excerpts from the report:

The tenth edition of the report, was forwarded to Congress and released to the public by the Department of Health and Human Services. It was prepared by the National Toxicology Program, an arm of the HHS located at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health. The reports are published every two years after lengthy study and scientific reviews by three successive expert panels of government and non-government scientists. 

In a statement releasing the report, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson today thanked "the hundreds of scientists who have contributed to this report through their original research or their careful reviews of these important studies. The public is well served by this dispassionate report that helps all of us ensure that the American public is made aware of potential cancer hazards."

The tenth report newly lists the group of hormones known as steroidal estrogens as "known human carcinogens." A number of the individual steroidal estrogens were already listed as "reasonably anticipated carcinogens" in past editions, but this is the first report to so list all these hormones, as a group. As with all the other medications listed, the Report on Carcinogens does not address or attempt to balance potential benefits of use of these products.

Also newly listed as "known" causes of cancer in humans are broad spectrum ultraviolet radiation, whether generated by the sun or by artificial sources; wood dust created in cutting and shaping wood; nickel compounds and beryllium and its compounds commonly used in industry. Beryllium and beryllium compounds are not new to the list but was previously listed as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen."

The report is mandated by Congress as a way for the government to help keep the public informed about substances or exposure circumstances that are "known" or are "reasonably anticipated" to cause human cancers. The report also identifies current regulations concerning these listings in an attempt to address how exposures have been reduced.

The report makes a distinction between "known" human carcinogens, where there is sufficient evidence from human studies and "reasonably anticipated" human carcinogens, where there is either limited evidence of carcinogenicity from human studies and/or sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from experimental animal studies.

The report does not assess the magnitude of the carcinogenic risk, nor does it address any potential benefits of listed substances such as certain pharmaceuticals. Listing in the report does not establish that such substance presents a risk to persons in their daily lives. Such formal risk assessments are the responsibility of Federal, State, and local health regulatory agencies.

Tom Oyler
Wichita, KS

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