Freezy, this is all I have to say on the subject, because it's not a topic I have any affectation for.
Several things, mostly small because you make a good point from the other end of the spectrum. I'll even cede a few of your points to you.
First, the pharmaceutical companies may be making a few bucks off Nicorette, but last time I checked, nicotine supplements don't kill people by the thousands.
Secondly, I fail to see how smokers are being persecuted by ads that tell them things that according you, they already know.
Thirdly, I'm sorry, but if you're entire purpose as a corporation is to make money off of a product that has no direct practical upshot besides the thinning out of the population, no quotation marks are needed around the word evil. That's a pretty good example of evil. Don't say it helps the economy, or it creates jobs; you can't devalue life that way and claim to be moral. Those jobs are only there so long as people keep dying. Tobacco companies are evil. They facilitate the deaths of others for their own gain.
Fourthly, ''They aren't lying as far as I can see''. Tobacco spokespeople have repeatedly said that smoking isn't harmful. I don't think even you can reasonably believe they're honest, so I'm not even going to argue that point.
Next, your assertion that all anti-tobacco lobbyists are in it for the dough. I've known at least a dozen members of the anti tobacco lobby, and EVERY SINGLE ONE was dedicated to reducing the death count. About half of them were former or current smokers, and none of them were making big bucks by doing what they were. I can be a cynic myself sometimes, but this is ridiculous.
An addition: even if they were in it for the money, I'd rather they made the money than corporations whose products cause death.
''Let people make their choices and suffer or enjoy the consequences as they see fit.
It's called America, and freedom.''
People make mistakes. If I crash my car, I don't expect the doctor to tell me to live with it because I didn't check my mirrors. Maybe I'm optimistic, but I'd like to think that there's some good left in society, that somewhere the concept of helping others deal with their problems survives. You don't appear to think so, and you're entitled to that. But it my opinion, that kind of a viewpoint is a cold and horrible way of looking at the world. If that's what America is, then the nation is in dire straits.
Finally, please do not talk down to me. I'm not ''polluted'' with any propaganda. You're right, a lot of people don't need to see commercials to know that smoking is harmful. And you do need to see all sides. I have. I watched my grandmother die of cancer, and my father continue smoking even though he hardly has lungs left to use. I'd like to think I do have some hope left, because I see the moral problem with the entire idea behind the tobacco industry. They make money by killing people. Once we lose sight of that, by getting distracted by fiscal issues, or by becoming defensive when confronted by the truth, then we're beyond hope.