Do Texans Still Smoke?
The price of cigarettes has increased. Smoking has been banned from quite a few bars and restaurants. There's a lawsuit that's trying to get smoking removed completely from movies that target kids. Is smoking so marginalized that we've almost seen the end of it in Lufkin?
There's a new legal complaint that's being filed against the Motion Picture Association of America that aims to get cigarette scenes axed from movies rated PG and PG-13. I've got kids, and we go to a lot of movies, and I don't remember seeing anyone smoke in any of them. But the new legal action would make that official, and if a movie included smoking it would be an automatic R. Wow. The MPAA says that would violate free speech.
It got me thinking. Does anyone really smoke anymore? Have smokers been pushed out of restaurants and bars and outside for so long that they've given up? Is it too expensive? Is it the health risks?
My dad smoked for years when he was younger, but he quit because he met and fell in love with my mom and she couldn't stand it. He always remarked how hard it was to kick the habit, but said he was glad someone came along to give him the push to do it because he was happier and healthier without it. I never started because the health risks freaked me out. Others in my family were heavy smokers.
Although there are still pockets of smokers, it seems like smoking in general is getting more and more squished out of town. Disco roller-skating, remembering phone numbers, and paying by check are so twenty years ago. Is smoking next?