Florida Tobacco Trial Verdict

05/04/97

I am not a smoker. I do not believe in smoking. Even though I do not want to trivialize the death of Jean Connor, I could not be more delighted at the Florida Jurors' decision today.

As I'm sure you've already heard, the lawsuit brought by Jean Connor's sister against the tobacco company, R. J. Reynolds was decided in favor of the tobacco giant by a group of Florida jurors.

Jean Connor died of lung cancer, likely a result of her chronic tobacco use. After Connor's death, her sister brought on the wrongful death lawsuit against the R. J. Reynolds tobacco company alleging that the company was 1) negligent, and a direct cause of Jean Connor's Death; and 2) that the R. J. Reynolds' cigarettes were unreasonably dangerous and defective.

I think R. J. Reynolds should be commended for making a great cigarette. I think R. J. Reynolds' cigarettes aren't dangerous enough. I think it's a shame that cigarettes are not more dangerous. After all, how many years did Jean Connor smoke these darn things before she got lung cancer? How could these cigarettes possibly be defective when this woman liked them so much that she smoked them exclusively?

I think it's a damn shame that the people that are stupid enough to smoke live long enough to reproduce and pass on their stupidity to their children. I'm sorry, but the simple truth is that it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that smoking is unhealthy and harmful. What brainiac inhales smoke full of nicotine, tar, and hundreds of other chemicals would expect this to be a healthy thing?

Sure, nicotine is addictive. I don't think anyone denies that. Sex is addictive. Shopping is addictive. What's not addictive these days? The bottom line is that no one put a gun to Connor's head and forced her to smoke, year after year.

What I cannot believe are the people who are actually outraged that the Florida jurors did not find the R. J. Reynolds tobacco company responsible. How do we possibly keep these people from reproducing? At least smokers are killing themselves, slowly but surely.

I don't know about you, but I'm just waiting for the day when some fat woman sues Ben & Jerry's for being responsible for her obesity and her health problems. On second thought, lets get all the heart attack sufferers to sue the American Dairy industry. "Drink milk," they say. "It does a body good," they say.

The honest truth is that we all do things that are bad for us. Some of us go out of our way to do things that are bad for us. Even if it is not immediately obvious that something we're doing is harmful, being a responsible adult means being responsible enough to find out. After all, who should be held responsible for our actions?

With some minor exceptions, we're all adults. =)  Being responsible for one's own actions is integral to being an adult. Let me ask the question again. Who should be held responsible for our actions?