crazy local news highlights...

[acroyear]

1. the VA House actually passed the smoking in restaurants ban, carried mostly by northern virginia and hampton roads area.  the south, the west, and richmond all voted no.  We'll see how the Senate does, since that's supposed to equalize the regions a bit more and weaken NoVA's influence.
2. the senate passed a ban on teenagers driving with cell phones.  the AP doesn't say whether or not hands-free is permitted.
   
3. Gee, Marion Barry's in legal trouble again over his taxes, where he's accused of not filing his taxes for several more years after his last probation agreement required him to do so.  unrepentant bastard, it seems, and that's what jail is for.
4. more metro construction on v-day weekend - check wtop for details if your plans including heading into town
   
5. MD is considering raising the alcohol tax.  i say go for it.  in this economy, nobody would even try to notice.
6. Loudoun's talking layoffs for staff
7. fairfax is still mulling the idea of moving the high school start time.  i'm of mixed minds here
• i'm one of those whose 8am classes were consistently poorer performing than any other, BUT
• I'm also a band guy who knows that marching band REALLY needs the time after school to practice and will lose it

Comments

[thewhitedragon.livejournal.com]

I never said that smoking wasn't a bad or dangerous addiction ... only that alcohol kills a very large number of people and yet doesn't have a fraction of the tax applied that tobacco does.

I'm always skeptical of statistics like those you've referred to - I know of quite a few accidents that were alcohol-related that never got reported as such. I also tend to believe that *if* those stats are correct, more people are still injured because of alcohol than tobacco... perhaps I should have clarified that.

I tend to think of myself as a very polite smoker - I smoke outside, try to keep my smoking away from non-smokers and try to be mindful of those around me. How many people who drink heavily can state the same thing?

And as far as deaths related to smoking? I also believe that those figures are drastically inflated; there are heart attacks and cancers that have been labelled 'smoking-related' when it's not neccessarily a proven direct connection. Simply because someone smokes doesn't mean they're going to get cancer or have a heart attack - it might increase the risk but it's not always the 'absolute direct cause'. Likewise, just because someone smokes and has a heart attack doesn't mean it's not because they weren't watching their diet or exercising. It's acceptable nowadays to pin everything on tobacco when in reality that might be a factor but not the leading one.

*shrug* Just my $.02