comments on NPR

Talk of the Nation discussed today the dichotomy between high smoking levels in Europe and low levels in the US.

Some discussion points:
- Those with a higher education level in the developed world smoke at more than 1/2 the rate of those with a high school diploma or less.

Now, call me old-fashioned, but I like to use myself as an example quite often. I am starting to feel ridiculously over-educated, yet I smoke like a chimney. Usually outside of the university building where I work with a whole lot of other graduate students. And diploma or no, the smarter you get the more fed up you feel about the world (non-scientific statistic). Higher stress = more smoking. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

- Eastern Europeans smoke at nearly 2x the rate of those in Western Europe.

Have you ever been to Eastern Europe? That place is kinda depressing. Shit, I'd smoke all the time too.

- Americans are sooo much fatter than the rest of the world.

Of course, cause everyone's addicted to food rather than cigarettes. Yes, cigarettes give you lung cancer. But food gives you a fat ass AND carotid artery stenosis. Yuck.


On another note, cigarettes from outside of the US have those crazy warnings on the packs (and sometimes pictures) that say things like "smoking kills you" and "if you smoke, you will die sooner." I think we should phase these in for entertainment value.

At least if I'm going to smoke, I want my cigarettes to say something that relates to me (and not the small birthweight thing). Maybe it could say something like "no one will love you if you smoke." Or, "we all think you're lame right now."


If my cigarettes insulted me a little more, I'd probably be more inclined to quit.