Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9310150365
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
You should look at the other side of the issue.
You stated that a high federal cigarette tax would cause about 7.6 million Americans to choose not to smoke. If the average smoker smokes 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes per day, in a year's time the result would be a $9.3 billion revenue loss for the tobacco industry.
Add that to the estimated 82,000 lost jobs nationwide and tell us what Uncle Sam will do when he cannot collect his tax money at the end of the year from related low- to no-profit businesses and their former employees.
The end result is more loss of jobs (non-smokers are prevalent in the tobacco industry as well as smokers), loss of businesses and of real and personal property; an increase in homelessness and crime, and a continuing weakening of our economy.
As for the addiction and consequences of smoking cigarettes, all vices are choices.
Let's not forget that the vast majority of cigarettes are made in the U.S.A.
SCOTT FITZGERALD
BUENA VISTA
Cranwell fights for this area
I'VE KNOWN Dick Cranwell as a friend, neighbor and as his family pharmacist for 25 years, and I wholeheartedly endorse his re-election to the House of Delegates. I've watched him grow from a freshman legislator and young attorney into one of the most effective personalities in state government.
His 16-to-18-hour workdays six to seven days each week have not dulled Cranwell's boyish enthusiasm for what state government is all about: helping people, educating our young folks and making life generally better for us. Despite his position of leadership in the General Assembly, he has never become part of the "good-ol'-boy" crowd. His first allegiance lies with his district and with the memories of his upbringing in one of Virginia's poorest areas.
Cranwell is this area's and Southwest Virginia's last best hope as the urban crescent siphons off our voting power and threatens to bleed us dry. He's up to the task. He is a forthright, up-front fighter who has the will and the savvy to win against heavy odds. He also cares.
S. WALLACE CUNDIFF
ROANOKE
Evidence sugges POWs still alive
A 1972 REPORT by a North Vietnamese general recently discovered in Moscow shows that more than 700 American prisoners of war have been held hostage by North Vietnam since 1973. Le Dinh, an intelligence officer, gave us the same number after his defection in 1978. We ignored it.
This is 14 times as many hostages as Iran held for 444 days. It's gone on for 20 years. This revelation gives increased credibility to the wealth of evidence that many of these POWs are alive today.
J. PERKINS ELLIS SR.
ROANOKE
Don't give away our water
WE CAN'T afford a Lake Gaston pipeline. Have you ever seen an empty river bed? The shock and sadness are indescribable. I saw this in Texas a long time ago, and the Colorado River, too, was a sad situation.
On the upper part of the river, everyone takes lots of water out; on the lower part, there is no water supply left. Overuse is terrible, and we can never turn back the water's flow as it was before it was disturbed.
In this region when our water levels get low, we are asked to reduce its use, not to water lawns or wash cars.
Virginia Beach should desalinate water from the ocean, which would give them all they could ever use. They could also limit their population and water consumption.
Virginia Beach would never be content with the gallons they get from a pipeline. Eventually, they would want more and so would other cities. This would end only when we don't have any more.
They don't care about us in Southwest Virginia. Obviously, they had their own water supply close by at one time. What happened? That same catastrophe will befall us much too soon. Rivers and streams cannot be manipulated and abused very long before nature will rebel.
RUTH K. RAKES
ROCKY MOUNT
by CNB