A smoker lighting up at a clean air rally or at any environmental rally is an oxymoron emphasis on the moron.
Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals that kill the smoker and kill 49,000 nonsmoking Americans every year.
Those chemicals are released into the air; the very air that the rally is trying to draw attention to and get others to make cleaner.
The smoker is polluting the air and degrading the value of the rally, especially in Utah where there is a strong stigma against smoking. People of the dominant religion will not only devalue the opinion of the smoker and those around him or her, but will also devalue the opinion of all those participating in the rally.
The best thing that any smoker can do is to quit smoking. This will help the person and those around him or her be healthier. It will protect the environment both in reducing the air pollution from the cigarette itself and in reducing the harmful chemicals that are released in the normal growing of tobacco products.
However, quitting is difficult because cigarettes have been engineered to be as addictive as possible. That means that the very least that a smoker can do is to not smoke while attending any rally that is designed to bring about environmental awareness.
Comments