Tobacco and marijuana

Last year, smokers afflicted by various diseases that were brought about by their smoking filed a class-action suit for punitive damages against a giant tobacco firm. The Florida jury that judged the case awarded them $145 billion in damages. Now, a cancer-stricken smoker has just been awarded $3 billion by a Los Angeles jury. The tobacco company that lost the case is Phillip Morris.

It has been estimated that 400,000 Americans die annually from fatal diseases caused by smoking. If all these victims of cigarette-smoking were to file cases, the tobacco industry would unquestionably go out of business.

We can’t understand why with that legal precedent in the United States, no person in the Philippines has filed a case against cigarette manufacturers. Fifty-three percent of male Filipinos and 18 percent of Filipino women smoke. It has been estimated that 20,000 Filipinos die annually from diseases they acquired through smoking. It is high time that one of the victims elevated his case to our courts. Right now, we oblige cigarette manufacturers to carry notices that cigarette smoking may be dangerous to the users’ health. The sign should be: "Cigarette-smoking can kill you!"

As if we didn’t have enough problems with smoking, now a new smoking threat is coming into the picture. Only a few days ago, a young entertainer was arrested by the police for allegedly using marijuana. For centuries, we had trade contact with Mexico. It was the galleons from Mexico that brought us may useful plants that have become part and parcel of Philippine life. Classic examples are camote, corn, and avocado. But, thank God, marijuana was not one of them. It is only recently that marijuana plantations are spreading. They are found in the rice terraces of the Mountain Province.

We want to warn on the dangers of marijuana-smoking. Marijuana grows almost anywhere. It is today the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. If the young entertainer who was arrested is really a marijuana smoker, he should thank the police for his arrest. If he is not yet addicted, he should stop using it. If he is already addicted, he should voluntarily enter a drug rehabilitation camp. There are medicinal uses for marijuana. But they are in the form of medicine and prescribed by doctors. Unlike cigarettes, marijuana is a narcotic drug.