| We have several public service announcements on | | | | it could save tax payers lots and lots of money. |
| television and radio that tout literacy, prostate health, | | | | Consider this, smoking related healthcare costs |
| littering, etc. Remember, "Give a hoot, don't pollute"? | | | | exceed $190 billion. That's "b" for billion. That's Medicare, |
| Well, that was big in Washington state where I grew | | | | lost wages, lost productivity, that's making you wait at |
| up. Anyway, why aren't there any public service | | | | the doctor's office because too many other people |
| announcements detailing the dangers of smoking. The | | | | are there too, because they smoked. |
| stop smoking movement that began in the 1960's was | | | | Imagine if you would, a world where nobody smoked |
| very effective and cut the smoking prevalence rates | | | | cigarettes. People often wonder what it would be like if |
| by almost half, to today's current levels of just over | | | | we had a cure for cancer. Well, stop smoking and |
| 20% of the US population. But we have hit a plateau. It | | | | you'll get rid of 90% of all lung cancer cases! Stop |
| seems that there has been no more head-way made | | | | smoking and COPD (emphysema) would almost be |
| in the last decade. | | | | non-existent. |
| Meanwhile, people continue to die at staggering rates | | | | I think back to our founding fathers who basically |
| due to tobacco use. The World Health Organization | | | | started the tobacco industry and all that it implies. I give |
| describes it as a worldwide epidemic. Unfortunately, | | | | them a lot of credit for settling in the Americas and all |
| there is a direct correlation between education and | | | | that, but wow, did they set us up for decades and |
| smoking prevalency rates. It seems the less education | | | | decades of poor health and death with this |
| you have, the more likely you are to smoke. That little | | | | tobacco-leafy thing. |
| fact, translates across the world as developing | | | | A recent survey came out stating that young people |
| countries have extremely high smoking rates | | | | were not aware of the many dangers associated with |
| compared to the more developed countries. | | | | smoking. This tells me that somewhere along the way, |
| Governments and nonprofits have tried to tackle this | | | | we've lost the messaging of the late 60's and early |
| problem from a number of angles. But what happened | | | | 70's. We need to rebrand that message and get it into |
| to just being direct with the public? If we were to have | | | | living rooms across the world. So kids can ask their |
| the old fashion TV spots detailing the horrific effects | | | | parents why they smoke, if it's so bad for them. Or |
| of smoking, then wouldn't it be more widely debated, | | | | parents can use the ads as jump-off's to discuss the |
| not just from podiums, but from living room easy chairs | | | | dangers of smoking to their kids. Let's get the |
| and sofas across the land? I'm not that big on | | | | prevalence rates to below 10%. Then we'll be talking |
| spending money just to spend money, but in this case, | | | | about some real healthcare reform. |