Texas Legislators Encourage Smoking

According to the American Cancer Society tobacco use is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths in the United States. Because cigarette smoking and tobacco use are acquired behaviors − activities that people choose to do – smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. 

State Senator Carlos Uresti proposed a bill to raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21. In his article “BREAKING: legislators stunned to find that anti-smoking bill causes reduction in smoking” posted Feb. 19, on the Texas political blog Letters from Texas the author Harold Cook voices his opinion about the legislators turning down Uresti’s bill. According to the fiscal note it would cost the state over $20 million a year in lost revenue, if less people were to buy cigarettes and pay less cigarette taxes, thus the bill is not acceptable. 

Cook uses sarcasm in his article to show his rage about the legislators’ decision. He believes that they should take a look at the big picture when making this decision.  He states that in the long run more money could be saved. The government constantly complains about all the expenses towards treating people who get sick from smoking and who depend on the public health care system. Cook makes a valid point that just by reducing the use of tobacco products the state is not actually losing money, but investing in people’s health which would overall reduce the health care costs.

All in all, I agree with the author. His arguments are strong, straightforward and convincing. He does an excellent job of ridiculing the legislators and making the reader see that turning down Uresti’s bill was a big mistake. However, there is one thing that I would have liked Cook to do differently in his article. He could have added some numbers showing to the audience how much of a negative effect tobacco really has on people. 

In conclusion, I thought this was a solid article that does a great job of presenting the issue at hand. The legislators should have done the “right thing” and thought about the future instead of just thinking about the “right now.”