CONGRESS NEEDS TO THINK

The Senate is expected to approve a bill that will give a lot of power to regulators to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a year.
Supporters of the bill say the measure would not only stop deaths, but reduce the $100 billion in annual healthcare costs linked to cigarettes.
I am all for the bill, however, something isn’t right here: In 1971, a law was approved that would ban tobacco advertising on television and radio and a 1998 rules forbid smoking on airline flights.
Tune into television or listen to the radio and you are bound to see or hear an alcohol based commercial. Drive on I-95 and look up, trust me, you’ll see a Bacardi Rum billboard.
So, here is my dilemma, have our congressmen and women realized how many people die because of alcohol? Tune into the local news on a weekend, more than likely, the news will be reporting on a vehicle accident where alcohol was involved.
In hospitals, there are many patients who are suffering liver failure. I bet alcohol played a factor in that disease. Of course, not all liver failure could be linked to alcohol, but I wouldn’t doubt there is a fair share.
In conclusion, our legislatures should think about passing strict laws on alcohol especially when it comes to drinking and driving. When a person gets in a car toasted, he is as effective as a bullet from a gun. He or she becomes a murder weapon.
Alcohol brings in millions of dollars and plenty of people benefit from the outcomes, but how many lives could we save.
So, cigarettes shouldn’t be the only bad habit to be punished. Let’s push for laws similar to cigarettes to be incorporated into alcohol laws. We can save lives.
Think about that congress!