Here is a war that is worth fighting....

[Guest M. McRae]

Smoking 'kills five million a year'

Smoking deaths around the world were studied

Almost five million people died from smoking-related diseases across the world in 2000, researchers estimate.

A study published in The Lancet found that for the first time, deaths from smoking that year were as high in the developing world as in industrialised countries.

Over three-quarters of deaths among smokers worldwide were among men.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3099936.stm

[Guest doo]

So should we all go out and smoke pot instead?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2942290.stm

[DEFCON]

I don't think anyone is going to stand up and say smoking is a good thing however, 5 million a year is a drop in the bucket on an ever more crowded planet.

And what of those millions and millions that starve to death in the third world each year? On the other side of the planet we have how many people die yearly as a result of obesity related disease? Then there's all the the heavy trucks busy pumping their black coal tar exhaust into the atmosphere? What about the city that pumps its raw sewage into the water, the expanding destruction of the worlds forests, and so on.

IMO the smoking issue is a red herring supported by government and intended to divert the public attention from those issues presenting a true and growing threat to our childrens collective future?

[Guest Shamus]

Yes the Govt is supporting an elimination of smoking as they reap more profit than the Tobacco Corps.

Sheesh