PUSH COMES TO SHOVE

The sign on the store window said "It is against the law to buy cigarettes for a minor."

Presumably that is because there are 19 major carcinogens in cigarette smoke and smoking is a major risk factor in heart attacks, strokes, cgronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and cancer...because it increases the risks of miscarriages and premature births, erectile dysfunction and impotence...because it can cause harmful genetic mutations...because nicotine is addictive and can cause physical and psychological dependency...because it can reduce life expectancy, according to some studies, by up to 10 years...because it is alleged by the World Health Organization to cause up to 5,000,000 deaths worldwide annually...the equivalent of 6 World Trade Center disasters every day!

OK, those are good reasons to make cigarettes available to minors, who are the age to consent to assuming those risks. But here is my question: If it is socially and legally acceptable for adults to purchase and use hazardous cigarettes, why is it illegal for them to purchase and use marijuana and other hard drugs, or to sell them to other adults?

My view is that a mature person ought be free to put into his body what he or she wishes, and that includes hard drugs. But, alas, consistency has never been a government virtue. And that is because, for the most part, government does not act on principles but avt, surprise!, for political reasons and interests, which pulls it in conflicting and contradictory ways. Representatives from tobacco growing states, who wish to get reellected, do not seek to ban the sale of cigarettes. Tax collection agencies relish the huge sum of taxes that is a sizable part of the cost of tobacco products. Hard drugs are ungodly, say Bible belt officials, who probably would support the banning of those devilish ciggies. As perhaps will President Obama, who might be inclined to ban cigarettes to help reduce health care costs in our country. Except, of course, he is an inveterate smoker.

"Push comes to shove" is an apt expression for our unprincipled law-making process.