Revolution to Help Rid us of Smoking Pollution

[polly2]

When I first joined BecomeanEX, there were 4,000+ members. As I am writing this, there are now 7,122! We are growing in great leaps and bounds. The beauty of this site is that it is not about me. It's about the power of a collective WE! Together, we have grown and continue to grow as each new day dawns! This is an exciting time for all of us and so it should be! We are helping one another to save lives as well as re-learning to live our lives the way our Creator would have us be! How awesome is that?

On Sunday, I spent the day at one of my favorite state parks - Lake Folsom, CA. Water always brings great peace, serenity and calm. I also talk to everyone I meet. Learning is essential to me. I have an inherent curiosity to adventure, explore, wander and wonder! Every person that I come into contact with, will more than likely teach me something new. Why? Why is because I ask them questions about them and our immediate surroundings. This can often lead to great observations, discussions and new ways of sensing, thinking, finding, seeing, hearing and SMELLING (increased by leaps and bounds)!

While I was racing around the beach with my buddy, Stevey (my dog), we happened upon a woman who was making her way to the water. As we approached her, I immediately smelled cigarette smoke. It smelled good, but I dismissed it at just that, without giving it time for further thought. However, I was glad that she had put out her cigarette before we came face to face!

I had my dark sunglasses on, so I was able to really get a good, hard look at her. What I saw was a face ravaged with the haggard look of an old smoker. How old she was, I really don't know. My guess is that she is much younger than she appeared. Her voice was deep, thick and gravelly from being a long time smoker. As I looked at her, I felt saddened. Yet, I felt a sense of gratitude welling in me, knowing that this could have been any one of us.

We had an interesting talk and I found out that there is actually a long, lost town under the lake. I further confirmed that when I chatted with a horseback riding park ranger later in the day. I have dug remnants of the past up since I was a child. History fascinates me. Joyful as I was about finding out this new information, I still felt sad. As we parted, I looked down at the beach. Sure enough, there was her butt lying smack on top of the sand; a double time pollutant. As much as I wanted to pick it up and pitch in a can, I didn't touch it (I would have used a plastic bag), but there were no trash cans in my immediate sight and I did not want to carry its stench. As we left both her and her butt, I was further saddened, knowing that she has a time stamp on her life.

A few mornings ago, I read Kelli's post about one cigarette being addictive and her anger at the tobacco industry. Here is part of what Kelli wrote:

"According to this article I found on MSNBC, all it took was 1, YES 1, cigarette to become addicted!"

"For some people, one cigarette is all it takes to become hooked on nicotine, while others are repel...

"This is what I don't get. If I was a dope dealer, walking around with a drug so powerful you could get addicted with just one deal, I would be slammed into prison so fast my head would be swimming."

Here is yet another quote from Kelli's blog from yesterday:

"In just one year, cigarettes leave about 12,000 kids motherless. That's 33 mothers a day."

Here we are, America, one of the supposed super powers of Earth. Yet our government continues to allow tobacco companies to kill us. Carbon monoxide, arsenic, butane, ammonia, and acetone are just to name a few. Imagine putting your head down and inhaling your tail pipe. What about slipping a little arsenic in your drink to literally end your day? Perhaps smokers should huff some butane instead of using it to fire up a smoke. Why use ammonia to clean our homes? We can take some swigs and clean ourselves out of life. Instead of using acetone to remove fingernail polish, why not just use it to remove ourselves?

Over 438,000 Americans (18.1 percent of all deaths) die because of smoking each year. Secondhand smoke kills about 50,000 of them. ...

From www.action.ascan.org :

How far will Big Tobacco go?

Think it is far- fetched that the tobacco industry would use a Crayon box to market cigarettes? We don't think so. Tobacco companies continue to blatantly market their products to America's youth, with everything from fruit- and alcohol-flavored cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products, and cigars to makeup gift bags and cell phone "bling"giveaways. Why? Because they are well aware of what entices kids and know 90% of all smokers start before the age of 18.

Will Your U.S. Senators Choose Children or Big Tobacco

After a historic victory in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate now has the opportunity to pass S. 625, FDA regulation of tobacco. However, the Senate must make this bill a priority and act quickly if members are going to vote on it before they adjourn again in late September.

Call 1.888.NOW.I.CAN and tell your U.S. Senators to choose children over Big Tobacco by urging quick passage of this life-saving legislation.

We are all here as a collective WE for a reason. Wiping these horrible toxins out of our own human landfills and regaining our life expectancy, our lung capacity, our overall health, our individual sense of self worth and being, our freedom, the thickness of our wallets and our appearance are just some of the benefits of becoming a non-smoker.

Yet, our government continues to allow tobacco companies to addict ourselves, our children and poison innocent bystanders as well. Our government is founded by "we the people." What are we doing about it? After writing back to Kelli today, I realized that perhaps I should have mentioned becomeanEX to the lady I had talked to on the beach.

I came to realize this morning that as guilty as I felt about one woman, how guilty do I feel about a nation that succumbs to these giant tobacco companies? Not so good is the answer...One comment from me, however, won't do much to change this. Yet, 7,000+ comments from WE and our supporters (family and friends) could possibly make it an issue, which in my opinion, needs to be addressed. There's no harm in trying! If you have it in your heart, please call your senators, send the Presidential candidate's e-mails and pass this on. Thanks in advance!

I will be writing my concerns today, to both Presidential Candidates and I hope you, your family and friends will join me as a collective WE. The e-mail addresses are as follows and I have typed a standard letter that you are free to copy, paste and add to as well:

Barack Obama:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2

John McCain:

http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/

Dear Senator :

As President, will you work with Congress to enact legislation (specifically, S. 625/H.R. 1108) to rein in the most egregious manufacturing and marketing practices of the tobacco industry, and will you substantially increase the federal tobacco tax to help improve public health, save lives, and protect children from a lifetime of smoking? Your efforts in this matter would be greatly applauded.

Sincerely,

Special thanks for Kelli who took the time to do research to help me write this! You ROCK Kelli!