Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 20, 2017

But all the cool kids smoke filterless cigarettes.

Cool as in “dead and in their graves.”

But it takes longer to kill than that or there would be no money to be made.

And Corporate America would NEVER lie to us, now would they??

Remember when tobacco funded the AMA to prevent Nixon from instituting national health care?

I don’t know what is is like in the US, but in Denmark, thing have changed a lot since I was a teenager 40 years ago. Back then, when we were at family celebrations, cigarettes would be passed at the table, beween courses.Now, few people smoke indoors, even at home. Mind you, a lot of people stille smoke, even though every package of cigarettes carry the message that it’s lethal!

Packs were just “a few bucks” when this strip was first run in the 1980s. Now they’re what, five dollars a pack? Six? It’s not a cheap habit by any definition.

When The Flintstones first went on the air it was sponsored by Winston Cigarettes. If you go on YouTube you can still see the commercials they used to run during the show, in which Fred and Barney are happily puffing away on their cigarettes.

Get on YouTube and use the search argument: doctors advertising cigarettes

Why does Mike wear his glasses when he’s sleeping?

“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” Yep, that was a real ad.

In Canada cigarette prices range from $10 to $13 per pack. So glad I quit!

After losing two of three wives and a brother – all lifelong smokers – to lung cancer, I’m pretty well convinced of the dangers of tobacco. I’ve got an MP3 file of an old radio ad for Camels – “What brand of cigarette do YOU smoke, DOCTOR?” It made the argument that smoking cigarettes is actually good for your respiratory system.

In a sane world, manufacture and sale of cigarettes would be illegal. But there’s big money to be made from selling cigarettes and most of that money comes from poor people who can least afford it. Capitalism does have its tragic consequences.

About the only folks still smoking are those that can’t quit for some reason (the only reason really, a totally spineless lack of willpower).

To the best of my knowledge, it is perfectly legal to grow and use your own tobacco. Any gardener beyond beginner stage should have no trouble doing it. Even though I’m a non-smoker, I was entranced by the descriptions at Strictly Medicinal Seeds and grew some potted plants for my friends that smoked. Only one took a plant, and he was afraid to plant it in the ground because of what the neighbor’s dog might do (?), so he left it in the pot on the front porch, where it didn’t have enough soil to grow to full size. Then it had a major attack of whiteflies, and he sprayed it with insecticide, thus rendering it unsmokable. So, he was not even at beginning gardener level. Still, I don’t want to hear anybody with access to a garden plot complaining about the price of cigarettes.

@CALIGULA: I lost most of my World War II vet uncles to cancer caused by cigarettes. The military issued cigs to those going overseas and likely to end up behind enemy lines, because the cigs could be used to bribe people to help them get out of danger (and were.) At that time, no one in the general public knew that nicotine was addictive or that the inhaled particulate matter from burning tobacco could cause disease. Many years later, with warnings required on packages, those younger than the World War II generation can’t say they haven’t been warned, but once a person starts on an addictive drug, it can be very difficult to stop. Addiction changes actual body chemistry. Willpower and spinelessness have little to do with that. It would be hilarious if you and those like you are prescribed opiates to recover from surgery, and discover the insidious nature of addiction. May you receive the same compassion you dish out…

“And if you don’t believe it, look at where that filter is located on my body!”

The same law firms and ad agencies (yes, the VERY same ones) that waged disinformation campaigns in favor of leaded gasoline, cigarets, and acid rain are now working for the big fossil-fuel companies to try to discredit the science (and danger) behind global warming. They were probably in favor of flammable pajamas and the Ford Pinto, too.

In that first panel, Butts looks almost like the Doodah Man. Remember “Keep on Truckin’”?

Winston Kills You Like All Cigarettes Should!

Winston Kills You Like All [boom boom] Cigarettes Should!

Is this the first appearance of Mr. Butts?

These “Classic” Doonesbury comics are highly abridged. There could have been several strips between yesterday’s and today’s. I imagine they don’t want to take 40+ years to get up to the present.

I recall a man selling his own brand in a black package with skull and cross bones. People didn’t care. They purchased them anyway.