Tobacco Documents Online

nlSTON Ck#eON+CLF ^ 1 4 ~~ AUu AUG 12 1995 Quit regulating our lives A" rwe just about bad itwith aU tbe let us ride or bicycles bare-head- g ahoe namiee ot this w who want,to regulate every sspect of our lives. The Food and Dru_dr~inistra- tion has c a~r -actesixed nicotiae u a wg which could be regulated, but said it does not plan to ban tobacco sates. It is truly a wonderment that my generation has lived to reach our nLd-Ws. Just consider ~ most adult women. smoked and; drank throu ghout their pregttancies dnet !ng those complacent days follow- ing Word War IL So 6tst we were bombarded with the 'noxious smoke and alcobol they sent into tbleir systeJust icaaglae how much bri ond ordl-adjustsd w.'d a!1 be it that poison hadn't been forced on us as dcfenselesa embrqonic fetu.+es. Consider ho.r ev[l it was of out parents to expose us to all that ' secondhand smoke in our forma- tive years and beyond. Reck [ probably could have been a rocket scientist instead of just. a very weD-educatel profesaonaL But 1et's talk about the really impoctant stufL Consider al1 the fat and cholester+ot they fed us while growu~g up. Why, they evra fed us whoie milk and white ymg out loud. And bread, for a tbey droNe aJl over the couna7 witlt us not harnes:ad to a seat or car edair. And then what did tt}cp do? ?bey edr Someticnes, they even let a bunch d us ride in the bed of a pick-up trw:k. It is nothbag less than a miraele that my o( ,ss grew to adulthood. It's positivdy an outrage what our geneftion had to endure at the hands of a aroup of parents who ao0whoa had the mistaken idea that rsising ut was their reapoasibi4ty and not that of the meddling zealoft who populate the health and gavenunent lobbies. Maybe a balay.boomer giant claas- actton suit ia cn order? On top of Z this, remember that while being, exposed to all these dangers, w* were expected to make decent grades, to respect authority, and to be seen and oot lseard And you bow what? • No one much cacsd ho.w we qelt" about ourseaves.. The cottage Indu.stnes that have grown up over the last 30 years that are devoted to announc:ng educational, health and aafety alerts (whicf are usually of dubi- oua validity) have, in bct, conpli- c2ted nthcr than simpli@ed the task of pw:nting. I'm not apposed to sensible ef- forts at gooi health and safe living. It's just that a little common sense sure ran gi) a long way, and none of us Is gonna live forever anyway. Get a lita, all you KAM IL Peedgrew, Hous+ton