For the longest time smoking was socially acceptable.  Men and women, young and old, they all lit up without a care in the world and lived happily ever after.  Then one day smoking was no longer socially acceptable, smokers were shunned and as time went by a stigma developed surrounding smoking.  Why?

Non-smokers might claim that smoking is bad, that smoking leads to lung cancer.  If this is true, then why don’t all smokers develop lung cancer?  How can it be that a dyed in the wool smoker can live and die with perfect lungs?

An even more pressing question is, if cigarettes cause lung cancer, what causes breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and all other cancers?  Even with thirty five years and billions of dollars in cancer research, these questions cannot be answered.

While non-smokers may point a finger at smokers, accusing them of living unhealthy, the majority of non-smokers are hypocrites where it comes to healthy living.  See them in everyday life and it will become clear that they are not as concerned about their health where it comes to alcohol, junk food and sunlight.

At parties, social gatherings or in the privacy of their own home, those who pointed an accusing finger at the smokers have no problem gulping down beer, wine and spirits.  Even though alcohol is directly related to strokes, heart attacks and liver cancer. 

There is no stigma around alcohol, even if a drunk person is seen falling down, onlookers will merely laugh.  The equivalent of a small city dies each year to alcohol rated accidents, yet nothing is being done to stop the advertisement on TV, in magazines and billboards.  When can we expect labels on bottles, warning consumers that alcohol can lead to accidents, job loss, spousal and child abuse?

Where it comes to junk food it is socially acceptable to see an overweight or even obese person stuffing himself with fatty foods.  Nobody tells that person that if he keeps this up he’s going to clog up his arteries, risking a stroke or heart attack.  Not to mention that a fat body is not exactly attractive.  When can we expect warnings on junk food packaging stating that eating this stuff can kill them?

Perhaps the biggest hypocrisy of non-smokers though is their adoration of the sun.  Come summer, they strip down to the bare essentials and act like chickens on a rotisserie.  They have conveniently forgotten or simply ignore that sunburn can lead to skin cancer. 

Why is there such a stigma surrounding smoking and how did the smokers hatred start?  Was it a false rumor that caused a ripple effect that couldn’t be stopped?  Was it a politician seeking to make a name for himself?  Or was it a clever campaign from a non-profit organization?  Who heard of the Cancer Society twenty years ago?  They were around but nobody paid them much attention.  Today the Cancer Society is billion dollar industry.  Coincidence?

Let’s not forget that if it wasn’t for the tax dollars of tobacco products, the state coffers would be short of a few billion dollars.  So next time you see a smoker, you might want to thank him rather than hate him.  After all, he paid in part for some of your conveniences like roads, bridges.  If it weren’t for his contribution you might not even receive your monthly child allowance check.