Crybaby Smokers Should Look In The Mirror, Say Libz

Libertarianz health spokesman Richard McGrath said today that anyone who has smoked since the U.S. Surgeon-General's report of 1964 has only themselves to blame for any health problems caused by their smoking.

On reading news reports that New Zealander Jeremy Marshall, who contracted heart disease after smoking since his early teens, is suing local tobacco companies, Dr McGrath grunted: "Duh! Where has this man been for the last 38 years?"

McGrath says he is astounded that Mr Marshall wants taxpayers to cover the cost of his triple bypass, while at the same time suing tobacco companies and pocketing any proceeds.

"The Surgeon General's report from 1964 suggests a causative link between cigarette smoking and ischaemic heart disease. A later report from the same source in 1979 states clearly that cigarette smoking is a major independent risk factor for heart disease in Western countries," said Dr McGrath.

"These law suits against tobacco companies are a form of denial, a refusal by some to accept personal responsibility for their own health," he continued. "Personally, I would like to see a taxpayer group countersue crybaby smokers such as Mr Marshall for deliberately placing themselves at risk of smoking-related illness."

Dr McGrath believes that to win his court case, Jeremy Marshall will have to prove that it was the smoking that caused his heart disease. "After all, non smokers get heart disease as well."

Libertarianz believe government should be separated from the health industry in the same way that a cancerous growth is removed from otherwise healthy tissue in the body. "We would abolish the public health system because it is funded by taxation, which is a blatant violation of property rights. Health costs should be met through private savings, insurance, or philanthropy, not through the redistribution of private wealth."

ENDS

© Scoop Media