I grew up with two smokers. Can you just imagine, six kids and two parents in the car driving down the road with the windows up (or most of the way) and both adults smoking. We bathed a lot. But, none of us ever had any kind of "smoke-related" illness. Not only that, but I don't think any of us six ever even had an ear infection or the flu or anything like that. My oldest sister is now 50 years old, my youngest sisters (twins) are 44. So far, and with God's grace, none of us have any lasting illnesses from the smoking.

You are right Lola, and I like the idea of going after energy drinks too. But that will probably come only after we are told that drinking water and getting fresh sunlight each day is going to be against the law.

"Why aren't these laws put to a public vote?"

Because we are stupid enough to let government take over our thinking for us. We are, year by year, allowing our government to erode every bit of "freedom" we once enjoyed, by letting our "representatives" make our decisions for us. This is the "dumbing down" of America that has gone on for at least the last 30 years.

How do you cook a frog? If you put it in a pot of boiling water, it would immediately jump out. But if you put it in a pot of tepid water then slowly raise the heat, it would stay in because it wouldn't notice the increased heat until too late. That's what we are letting our government do - cook us like frogs.

Step by quiet step, they are eroding every bit of liberty we once had, and all we do is complain amongst ourselves instead of fixing the problem. Every year more stupid laws are passed just to keep the legislators gainfully employed, and we keep letting them do it.

We need less government intervention, not more.

Thank you "The Thinker". I enjoyed your reply. I too was around smokers all the time, and at 50 plus, I have had no ill effects, and did not become a smoker, (at least not of regular cigarettes) as a result. I admit to enjoying a vanilla or rum- flavored cigar once in a while, until they ban smoking in my backyard. We are continually making laws to protect ourselves from ourselves, when all we have to remember is that old chestnut "Moderation in all things". When they banned cupcakes and stuff at school I knew we were heading for the end. Fast food is just that, fast. If it was supposed to be healthy, it would say health food. My food pyramid does not say eat fast food all the time because I am too lazy to prepare regular food at home. It uses the words "balanced diet" a lot. In the end, Stress, worrying about all the things that can kill us, will kill us. Have a great week!

Your analogy is so right on "writergrrrl"! I think all the dumb laws are there to take our eyes off the fact that we are slowly giving away our freedoms. It's truly sad that we have become this dumb society. By the popularity of all the trashy reality shows, I have not much hope that we will change anytime soon. And I don't know about anyone else's phone, but I can barely read the letters on mine, so texting just seems ridiculous whether I am driving or not. If you are already on the phone, why not just talk to the person. Unless they aren't supposed to be on the phone in the first place!