1. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Jul 18, 2007, 8:10 am PDT

With all due respect, the IOM should butt out. Considering the FDA's track record for accomplishing nothing on behalf of the American public and our safety, I don't trust them to have more control over anything. They already look the other way while only 1% of our food supply from other nations is inspected which let tainted food sources in. They allow this country to make and distibute genetically modified food to the public for years and then don't demand labeling what food it is or it's in. They allow many prescription drugs with serious side effects to go to market without much scrutiny for years, then take it off market after people start dropping off like flies and relatives sue the companies for their deaths. They suddenly take a hint and put out a helpful warning to the public that we shouldn't be taking that product. Thanks FDA. You're such a help. Tobacco regulation is the least of our concerns right now and we don't need another self-appointed big brother like the IOM trying to watch over us when the FDA is such a failure at it. People who smoke know it's dangerous and don't care. Instead of controlling what smokers do to their lives, how about controlling what drug manufacturers in this country and people from other nations are trying to do to American lives? Label all of our food and drug sources with the country of origin. Start listing every ingredient that goes into prescription drugs on a label or inserted pamphlet and the origin of ocountry it came from so the consumer knows exactly what they're ingesting? Considering meat sources are made up of cardboard in China, I think we need to have tighter controls on what we call "safe" for consumption.

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2. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Sat, Dec 15, 2007, 10:51 am PST

As an adult smoker, I am clearly disturbed abou all of the smokers rights being taken away. IT IS a choice of myself & other smokers to continue smoking. And the last time I checked we are not in a communist country. THIS IS AMERICA...land of the free...that means we are free to chose what we do in our own lives. I am sick of the government, restaurants, stores, malls, hospitals, etc. trying to make me feel like I am committing a crime when I want to light up. SO this is my opinion of the whole matter.. GOD BLESS AMERICA

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3. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, May 12, 2008, 5:39 am PDT

The first four suggestions I don't have a problem with, I see plenty of reasons why they won't work very well but they will do something. "Banning smoking in all nonresidential indoor areas" Not a sound idea. A group of about twelve of us used to go to a bar downtown every weekend for about two years. They stopped allowing us to smoke, we haven't been back. Albiet if there was nowhere that allowed it we wouldn't just stay home, we'd probably go camping, but there will be people who will simply opt not to go out. Nightclubs and the like will suffer over this. "Requiring cigarette packs and cartons to carry pictured warnings of the dangers of smoking" Alright...non-smokers really don't seem to get this, I wish there was an intelligent way to present this but it's really simple. We don't care. The majority of smokers know exactly what smoking does to us. I'm a med student that smokes two packs a day, I realise it's a stupid thing to do, but I enjoy it. "You could make the entire pack a warning lable and call them 'Tumors' and we'd still stand in line to buy 'em" Warning lables don't matter. "Increasing cigarette taxes greatly" We're going to smoke, we have the right to do so, we'll fight for every cent you try to raise it, and when you jack the price up enough, we'll end up simply going around the middle man and getting them illegally. That's the way it is, it's not going to make us stop, it's just going to infuriate* us. *And when angry, we tend to smoke more. "Reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes" You already stated the problem with this. I'm just amazed someone was stupid enough to suggest it.

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4. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Sep 08, 2008, 6:25 pm PDT

reading the stats on how many people die from smoking and 2nd hand smoke. So right. I am an ex smoker (off almost 26 yrs.) that thinks the beverage drinking in America kills a lot more people directly and indirectly than cigarettes ever thought about. Not that I am for cigarettes or any form of nicotine, I think the focus should be on every thing. Obese people have about as much problem as most drinkers and smokers getting by in the world. Should all good tasting food be ban. The choice is all in our hands and you can not legislate stupidity. America has eaten, drank, and smoked our selves into a big deep hole, not knowing which way is out. God have mercy on America.

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