> A friend of mine has pointed out that the tobacco companies really ought to
> play political hardball. They should simply say "Oh Well ... we're not
> making any more cigarettes until the U.S. Govt. gets off our case." You
> would see MAJOR political change in less than a week. It would certainly
> be a wonderfully calculated risk since its not clear to me how many smokers
> would stay clean until the lines started up again. It would also be a
> wonderful experiment to document the effect of a dedicated minority on
> public opinion in a democracy. I believe the number of smoker's in America
> is equivalent to the number of African Americans. This tactic would make
> the Civil Rights movement of the early sixties look like a high school
> student council campaign.
This would make news, that's for sure! But I think it is altogether to
risky for the companies to try... not only would they lose a weeks'
worth of sales and aggrivate all of their customers, but there is a good
chance many of them would take the "enforced" opportunity to quit cold
turkey. So while yes the potential benifit is huge (just think: NO
controls) the risk is /collosal/ No way it will happen.
BTW, thanks for the rest of the well written post as well
ERiC
Take a chance. Spin the wheel. Roll the dice.
Pick a card. All you have to lose is everything
you are, and all you have to win is the world.
- Andrew, www.kantor.com