Tobacco
Our society is about to fight another round with the tobacco industry (at the time this article was written). This time, at least two states are suing tobacco companies for the financial costs of caring for those whose health has been destroyed by this drug.
We hope that these suits will be successful. If so, it could make the manufacture of tobacco products economically infeasible. In any event, it will help to reinforce the steadily declining proportion of smokers in our country.
It is only right that these costs be laid at the door of an industry that has promoted the use of its addictive drug, while consistently and intentionally lying about both its addictive nature and its health hazards.
Nicotine is among the world’s most addictive drugs as well as being one of its deadliest poisons. Cigarettes are the only legal product on the market that are absolutely guaranteed to be damaging to the customer’s health when used as directed.
Biblical directives with regard to the use of such a drug are quite definitive: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Specifically, 1 Cor. 6:19-20 is referring to the misuse of the body for fornication. However, the similarity between fornication and drug use is apparent—both are indulgences to attain immediate gratification in self-destructive abuses of the body. The principle applies to anything that might injure us or ruin our health.
The principle of taking care of our bodies so that we can better use them to God’s glory applies to ANY self-destructive behavior. Those who do not smoke or drink alcoholic beverages should recognize that most foods or medicines can be similarly abused.
If you are enslaved to tobacco, the solution begins with the total commitment to beat this addiction. Different people have succeeded in different ways, and it might take many attempts before you are successful. The most important thing, however, is to resolve to seek God’s help, and to allow Him to assist in this most difficult endeavor.
If you have never lit up a cigarette, DON’T! Recognize: The worst possible consequences of this behavior occur if you enjoy it. You don’t want to enjoy it, so leave it alone.