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In December, 2005 the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company announced that effective October, 2006 it may fire any employee who is found to be smoking even off the job. Look at this article from the Wall Street Journal Online's Career Journal site.
Have you been following the litigation involving various States' Attorney Generals trying to extort money from the tobacco companies? Do you know that the only people who would receive any benefits from such a settlement are those on the States' welfare roles? What about other people who might suffer from tobacco-related diseases? Shouldn't they be entitled to the benefits from any settlement as well? That would seem to be equitable, right? Not according to the states, however. You see, they don't believe in equity. They never have. States already collect exise taxes from every pack of cigarettes sold in their juristictions. But are any of those funds allocated to diseases of smokers? Of course not! The monies are simply included in the respective states' general revenues and allocated as the representatives you have elected see fit. In general, their philosophy is: collect money from whomever we can and distribute it as we want to.
Just look at the federal budget passed in 1997. It includes an increase in the exise tax on cigarettes to fund a new program to pay for the medical care of uninsured children. You'll also find that this philosophy is not restricted to taxes on tobacco products or the extortion of money from the tobacco companies. Nor is it limited to the federal and state governments. Philadelphia (PA) already has a "liquor by the drink" tax to help pay for public education. The city also wants money from the manufacturers of spray paint to pay for the cost of cleaning up graffiti. And the mayor now has a task force looking into the possibility of sueing gun manufacturers to pay for the medical care of those injured by a weapon used during the commission of a crime.
Six reasons to celebrate the death of the tobacco bill.
Amtrak at one point banned smoking on all trains. By the fall of 1996, however, they started easing restrictions. The following appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Thursady, March 13, 1997, page 1, column 5:
... Amtrak is bringing back smoking on long-distance routes, after a survey showed that it was losing $20 million a year in revenue from smokers - even though it let people smoke at layovers on about a third of its long routes. (Amtrak still outlaws smoking on all short runs). On long routes, it is phasing in "smoking lounges": walled-off, super-ventilated spaces located in coaches that are separated from other passengers. Lounge seats aren't revenue-makers: The idea is to puff and go.
Unfortunately, they didn't learn from their experience and effective November 1, 2004, all Amtrak trains, Thruway buses and stations are entirely non-smoking except for the Auto Train.
Of course, Amtrak is once again piling up losses and sucking up funds from Federal subsidies.
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Last revised: December 2, 2006