Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

Thank you. I think you said what a lot of people were thinking.

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• Posted by em1 on February 11, 2009 at 11:24 a.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

well said.

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• Posted by sjschlag on February 11, 2009 at 11:47 a.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

No energy drink sold on campus has creatine in it. It's also worth noting that none of the "-ines" listed in the letter are dangerous unless consumed in excessive quantities.

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• Posted by Beech27 on February 11, 2009 at 12:18 p.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

If you can pay for the cancer treatments, then go ahead and light up. I only ask that you are considerate of others and try not to blow smoke and draft on us. Many smokers are very considerate of nonsmokers and I greatly appreciate that.

The University shouldn’t be making up new rules about what can and can’t be sold where.

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• Posted by Abita on February 11, 2009 at 3:26 p.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

There is another way to look at this. Popular opinion largely believes that universities should be propelling the green revolution. It is no secret that the stimulus package passed today will require schools receiving money to use some of that money to meet green standards.

If we expect schools to be green, why do we not expect schools to help lower Medicare and health insurance costs? We are afraid population will be detrimental to our health but smoking clearly is causing more deaths than polluted waters. We are trying to save the environment from catastrophic collapse (allegedly) but we are more than willing to sell a catastrophic disease to students.

Fortunately for smokers, the government and Al Gore (the same guy who told people he invented the internet) have convinced college students that global warming is their biggest concern. Health care reform isn’t that vogue anymore thus no one really cares that much if cigarettes are sold at the Union or not.

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• Posted by Abita on February 11, 2009 at 3:36 p.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

Al Gore is an idiot, we all know that, but that doesn't mean that global warming is not real and not a threat. There are many, many problems facing us all today and they must be solved or they will break us. This is no time for petty bickering. Give out information and people can believe it or not as they chose. As far as the anti-smokers, I would tell them that being hostile and insulting only gets peoples back up and makes them justifiably defensive. It does not make anyone stop smoking. Leaders like Mugabe are appalled at the freedoms that Americans have, that should tell you something.

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• Posted by irishswearingen on February 11, 2009 at 7 p.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

Irish, you got so defensive about global warming, which I didn’t really attack, you never addressed my point. What happened to reforming health care? Why are we so caught up in saving the environment but so nonchalant about cigarettes, which are probably the single worst thing someone can do to his or her body next to skydiving without a parachute.

If the University had a coal plant on campus, there would be utter outrage, protests for months. But the University sells addictive, carcinogenic and otherwise terribly unhealthful cigarettes on campus and hardly anyone cares. Millions of people die each year and billions of dollars are wasted because people smoke cigarettes, tell me exactly how we condone that?

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• Posted by Abita on February 12, 2009 at 7:54 a.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

I would say that if each individual bears a greater responsibility for paying for his or her own healthcare, we will see a decrease in unhealthy behavior.

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• Posted by connerm on February 12, 2009 at 10:10 a.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

According to the polls released on MSNBC, the greatest concern today is not the environment but the economy. I am not at all defensive about global warming, but that too is a matter of economy. I want to see a definitive, provable chart showing how much money the Union would lose by not selling cigarettes on campus, as opposed to the money spent on heath care for smokers. The argument that students are going to buy tobacco somewhere so they might as well buy it at the Union just doesn't wash. You might as well say, some are going to buy weed somewhere, so they might as well sell it at the Union. Now, that might bring in some money. Exactly who is it that decides what is sold on campus and what isn't? What are the rights and responsibilities of the student regarding their own body and health?

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• Posted by irishswearingen on February 13, 2009 at 10:53 a.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

They should also go ahead and start selling adderall and ritalin, because I know that students would buy it and it would really turn a nice profit for them. In fact, let's declare the entire campus a "True Free Market" zone, and sell crack and meth and guns and switchblades too. All this regulation stuff has got to go.

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• Posted by pantheon on February 18, 2009 at 9:42 a.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

Pantheon:

You just made a gross mischaracterization that in no way contributes to the discussion. Adderall and ritalin are prescription medications used to treat real medical problems. They are not legal to obtain or utilize if you don't have a prescription. The same goes for crack and meth, and guns are tightly controlled as well.

Cigarettes (and hopefully beer at some point in the future,) on the other hand, are legal to those who are 18 or older (or 21 and older.)

What point are you trying to make? That capitalism and profit are bad because selling illegal substances is somehow connected to the free market? When you make a comment it is always good to think of this in advance, then read your comment and ask yourself "did what I just said contribute to the discussion or am I just making a fallacious argument?"

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• Posted by connerm on February 19, 2009 at 1:16 p.m.
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Letter: Cigarette sales benefit University

Actually, my point was that if the only reason cigarettes are sold is because people want them and it makes money, then that should be applied to everything that could possibly be sold. I'm all for selling cigarettes, and beer too, on campus. But saying "IT MAKES MONEY HURRRR" is not a compelling argument.

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• Posted by pantheon on February 20, 2009 at 6:45 a.m.
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