Be Careful What You Wish For

Be Careful What You Wish For

RUSH: I know most people don't like tobacco products and you're all excited the government got hold of this, going to reduce nicotine in the amount of cigarettes, so forth and so on, which is only going to increase the number of cigarettes people smoke.

It's an addictive substance. In fact, nicotine is probably the most addictive substance on earth. A lot of people think it would be heroin or cocaine or crystal meth, but it's nicotine. Nicotine is the most addictive substance on earth. And the proof in this is that nobody has a pleasant first experience with it. Have you ever seen somebody take a drag on their first cigarette? (coughing) Some of them head into the bathroom thinking they're going to throw up. And within seconds they're lighting the second cigarette. Now, most other substances, when you take a hit, you get a high or you get a mellow or whatever. But with this it's pure agony the first time you do it, and yet that doesn't dissuade people. If they're going to reduce the amount of nicotine per cigarette they're just going to increase the number of cigarettes people smoke.

Now, secondly, the government is finally getting control of the tobacco industry via the FDA. What does the government do to industries it gets control of? It runs them into the ground, it destroys them. And the danger of running the tobacco industry into the ground is it's one of the greatest sources of tax revenue for the federal government and states. And if somehow the federal government destroys this business, and that tax revenue dries up, if they succeed in getting people to quit smoking and Obama just did a little hit piece on it out there from the White House today, if they succeed in this, which is what they publicly profess their interest is, is in getting as many people to quit as possible, do you realize what's going to happen to tax revenue? It's going to plummet. They're going to have to make it up somewhere and then all of you who don't smoke and all of you who are happy that this somehow is going to improve the health circumstances in America are going to be anteing up to make up the difference. So be careful what you wish for.