Why do they mention 100's of people who die in the war and not the 1,000 who die every day from smoking?

Question

I've heard a few guys on the radio mention this but you hardly ever hear it, but we hear about the hundreds who have died in the war or even a few thousand but what about the thousand people who die every day from complications from smoking cigarettes and the other 1,000 a week who die from breathing second hand smoke? Or when one plane crashes we hear about it and they make a big deal about the number of people who died but the number of people who die from smoking and from second hand smoke is like having several planes crash every day. I heard Dr. Dean Edell talk about this on the radio. Also another talk show host. But other than that it never gets mentioned. Does anyone know why?

The government has no say in smoking? Then why is smoking banned in so many cities by law? People who die of smoking chose to die of smoking? The ones who died in the war chose to join the service. Not proved second-hand smoke kills? Yes, it is proved. Jerks who die of smoking knew what they were getting into? People who joined the service knew what they were getting into. You don't smoke in public? There are millions more smokers who do smoke in public and we have to breathe their lousy stinking smoke all day, at bus stops, on park benches, holding their cigarettes out their car windows, they stand in front of every store and restaurant, on every street corner, they are everywhere, we can't escape the stinking smell of smoke all day long.

Answer 1

There's a few flaw's in Munkee81's email story. This theory was debunk when Republicans tried to sell this deception a few months back.
1. Of the 2,112 deaths in Iraq only a small percentage is due to gunfire. Most of the deaths are from Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or as we call them; Bombs. How many bomb related deaths are there in DC? We need strict control in Iraq.
2. For the sake of argument, say we do use those numbers. You're still comparing the number ratios of an entire country (Iraq is about the size of California and Oregon together) to that of one city. Why don't you instead use the number ratio of Washington DC and Baghdad and see what you get.
3.If you still believe this bit of crap, then maybe George Bush should immediately move to Bahgdad where he would be safer.

As for the question: Surely you're not seriously comparing smoking to fighting in a war?

Answer 2

What about the hundreds that die in car crashes?
Let's out law all the vehicles and end this threat!!
It has not been proved that second hand smoke kills.
Doctors say that to scare you and have you put more unwanted pressure on the smokers. I'm not saying it's healthy by any means, just that it isn't proved.
How do people of power control us? They put fear in our heads and lie to us about numerous things.
The best one I have heard of was the 'what to do in case of nuclear attack'. Curl up and cover your head? Come on, this won't help a bit. It'll keep you from seeing it coming thus lessening the fear of being fried alive. But they had people convinced that it would save their lives! And it wouldn't have.
Tragic stories of mass destruction and death brings good ratings and that's the only reason we hear about it on the news. When was the last time some news anchor told you how many passenger jets landed safely that day? They don't... because it doesn't bring in the ratings. But let one crash and kill more than a dozen people and they'll scream about it for days.

Answer 3

how can you compare smoking to being in a war. The point of the war is that a lot of people feel that those soldiers are over their for the wrong reasons. People support the troops but not the war and use the deaths as an argument to bring the troops home. Smoking is a personal choice, albeit a stupid one, and the government has no say in personal freedoms such as those.

Answer 4

Who is tracking those who died due to asbestos or the chemicals that leak into our water systems, what about the pollution puffed out by cars or factories, who is really giving a crap about the Kyoto accord. Smoking is dumb but there are loads of other things killing people ....... smokers are just an easy target


Solders and any emergency personnel put their lives on the line to better our society (whether the conflict is right or not).

Answer 5

Because the idiot who died from smoking chose to die of smoking whereas the poor guy who died in the war was shot by a terrorist not even by an other soldier.... And if you go like this why dont we speak also of the idiot who died of suicide, or who died in drowning or was run over by a car that jumped the red light ??

Answer 6

It is just not news that has an exploitive value that they can sensationalize. For the media it is nothing more than a statistic. Heart disease is still the number one killer and mostly because of diabetes and cholosterol related issues. Also, death by smoking is a self done thing and this country has little sympathy for smokers.

Answer 7

Why dont' people like you leave people who smoke, like me, the hell alone? Worry about yourself. I don't smoke out in public, in restaurants, hell I don't even smoke in my own car because of my kids. War and smoking are NOT the same and you have no right to bit*ch about smoking when men / women are dying daily in the war. If someone like me wants to kill themselves by smoking, then that's MY choice - NOT YOURS. And if you watch TV, you'd see the commercials that are non-stop about smoking. Smoking is a personal choice, war is not.

Answer 8

You reminded me of an email I received recently...
Subject: Think about this

If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theater of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.
The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.
That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion: The U.S. should pull out of Washington immediately.

Answer 9

The jerks who die because of smoking knew what they were getting in, the soldiers who died in this "war" Hoped to live

Answer 10

Because dieing from smoking doesn't damage George Bush. The liberal, drive-by media is all about making things difficult for George Bush. Any other questions?