How to Really Reduce Health Care Costs.

Hey, Congress -- want to really reduce health care costs? How about outlawing cigarettes? A CDC study showed that a smoking ban in Pueblo, Colorado, coincided with a 41% drop in heart attack hospitalizations in the three years after the workplace smoking ban took place. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas.

Dr. Michael Thun of the American Cancer Society said, "This is now the ninth study, so it is clear that smoke-free laws are one of the most effective and cost-effective ways to reduce heart attacks." Not only smokers are affected by the poisons released by cigarettes, but non-smokers who inhale the second-hand smoke are also affected. Second-hand smoke damages the lining of blood vessels and increases the kind of blood clotting that leads to heart attacks.

So if this health care thing is not just a power grab, and banning cigarettes will save all these lives and all this money, let's get rid of the stinky things!

"CDC: Smoking ban reduced heart attacks." The Dallas Morning News; January 1, 2009; p. 8A.