Tobacco is worse than 'drugs'

Since the Nixon-Reagan era, America has been scaring its people shirtless about "drug" users and their cracked-out violence. By "drugs," I mean the select group of substances determined by the government to be illegal for all purposes (hereafter referred to without quotation marks). Americans have been inculcated with the message that drugs are evil and must be destroyed (along with the black people who use them) at all costs. Why is this? Yes, illicit drugs can be devastating to those who use them, but the magnitude of the problem pales next to that of tobacco.

22,000 Americans die every year of illegal drug use (overdoses, etc.) and drug-related violence. In the process we spend about $100 billion a year. About half of that total is spent locking people up in cages because they were found in possession of said illegal substances.

For a little perspective, 406,000 Americans die every year because of tobacco (about 60,000 of those deaths are due to second hand smoke). The annual tab from tobacco-related mortality hovers around $80 billion.

Lawsuits and regulations against Big Tobacco in the U.S. have helped reduce use significantly. Nationwide teen use rates are dropping steeply. Big Tobacco is losing its grip and so now it is looking overseas.

Fortunately for the world, the W.H.O. is a few steps ahead. More than 170 countries attempted ratifying the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but the United States has done its best to impede the process. Countries that adopt the FCTC would pledge to ban tobacco advertising and add warning labels and pictures to 30 percent of the space covering a pack of cigarettes. In addition, countries are urged to tax tobacco products — you can get more info at www.fctc.org. The goal is to reduce the projected 10 million global annual tobacco-related deaths in 2030 if Big Tobacco has its way.

If the FCTC were adopted worldwide, it would really cramp America's style. Big Tobacco would have a hard time hooking all of the small African children and their third world buddies if it couldn't put up billboards of beautiful white people sucking on their cancer sticks. It seems as though this could even be infringing on free speech, or so America's tobacco lobbyists say.

I wonder, though about the lack of ads for heroin or marijuana in the United States. I am not talking about ads that scare kids about smoking pot, I mean ads that entice people to get high and enjoy themselves. Where are they? Instead of the Marlboro Man or that tiny Virginia Slims woman we could see pictures of the Weed King. Think about it, brownie mix sales would go sky-high. Betty Crocker should be all over this.

The reason we don't see advertisements for drugs is because they can kill people (except for marijuana). Right. Realistically though, we don't see "drug ads" because we don't have a strong enough heroin lobby (that makes campaign donations) in the U.S.

Bottom line: third world countries are in for trouble. When I was in Ghana two summers ago, there was no drug culture (marijuana not included). American cigarettes, though, bolstered by heavy Big Tobacco campaigning could easily become the "80's cocaine" for today's Ghanaians. Instead of just worrying about HIV, TB, Malaria, dirty water, political instability, a lack of medical supplies, failing economies, and gigantic foreign debts, African countries could focus on heart disease, emphysema, high blood pressure, and second hand smoke. What a nice change of pace!

If you would like to see the FCTC supported by the United States there are some things you can do: Go to www.tobaccofreekids.org and under the Global Initiatives button, sign a petition to the president to support health, not tobacco. If you don't have 5 minutes, I guess it isn't that important and the third-worlders can fend for themselves. That wouldn't be the end of the world. I imagine some countries might choose a health advisory campaign that says something like the following: "Warning: Buying cigarettes supports terrorism."

Robin Williams is a Wilson School major from Greensboro, N.C.