Source: www.postbulletin.com
Author: staff

A couple of months ago I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in years. I didn’t recognize him. A once solid and athletic guy, now in his late 40s, he’d lost more than 50 pounds and his skin was the color of fireplace ash. A long, thin scar ran from his jaw all the way down his neck and disappeared under his shirt.

“I’ve got cancer,” he said after re-introducing himself. He explained that he’d been through extensive surgery and treatments but that he was optimistic he’d pull through.

Doctors told him smoking was the likely cause of his throat cancer.

This week marks the two-year anniversary of the law that made it illegal to smoke in Minnesota’s bars, restaurants and other public places. Olmsted County can take pride in the fact that it helped lead the way in the push to clear the air in the state’s workplaces, eating establishments and watering holes.

In November of 2001, Olmsted County Board members passed a comprehensive anti-smoking ordinance. The countywide ban was a courageous, landmark decision that helped create momentum for the statewide legislation.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I visit a state like Wyoming, where smoking is prohibited only in underground mines and other places where you could blow yourself up if you lit a match, I’m thankful for Minnesota’s ban. It’s so nice to be able to enjoy a meal without having to breathe in toxic fumes.

But the tobacco wars continue.

Every time I write about smoking bans or cigarette butt litter, I receive a torrent of e-mail and phone calls from smokers and those who believe the U.S. Constitution not only grants them freedom of speech and the right to bear arms but also permits them to light up, spit chew juice or burn holes in tablecloths whenever and wherever they please.

I want to make myself clear on this subject. I don’t despise smokers. I know a lot of people, such as the guy I describe above, who use tobacco. Nearly all of them started in their teens and nearly all of them have been trying to quit for years. I sympathize with them.

Of course, the easiest way for tobacco users to avoid life-threatening diseases and a lack of public places to smoke is to not start in the first place. That’s why I’m concerned about the latest ploy the tobacco companies are using to market their products.

I met last month with representatives of ClearWay, the statewide organization created with tobacco lawsuit settlement money to reduce consumption and help people quit.

They said tobacco companies are now marketing nicotine-laced tablets that resemble breath mints.

“They come in flavors like cherry peach, so it’s obvious they’re being marketed at young people,” says Kerri Gordon, a public affairs manager for ClearWay.

Tobacco companies are also selling a product called Snus that delivers nicotine through a small, flavored pouch the user sucks on.

In an effort to help reduce the number of tobacco users and get people to quit, ClearWay will continue to push during the upcoming legislative session for a hefty increase in the state’s tobacco tax. Minnesota’s current per-pack tax of $1.56 is the 19th highest in the nation. Taxes now range from $3.46 a pack in Rhode Island to 7 cents a pack in South Carolina.

In the meantime, I’ll continue my much more modest campaign to get smokers to stop treating cigarette butts like they’re invisible.