Stop the Impulses

Just in the past week Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proposed a law that would demand that all stores to keep cigarettes that are for sale out of sight.  I completely support this law; I think a law like this would have great potential to decrease the amount of smokers in America.  Mayor Bloomberg says; “The campaign is intended to shield children from tobacco marketing and to keep people who have quit smoking from buying cigarettes on impulse”.   This has tremendous potential to improve the quality of life for many Americans, yet there is still opposition.  This opposition is rooted in money and comes from advertisers and convenience store owners.  These are the people who make a profit off buyers.  As James Calvin the president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores says, “We think it’s patently absurd”.  Well I think it's absurd that there are 7, 000 New Yorkers a year dying from smoking cigarettes. As with anything else that is not illegal, Americans have the freedom to do things that are bad for their health, but in the end it is beneficial to limit the accessibility of those vices.  Additionally, with the emergence of universal health care the health of all Americans is an even more important national issue.  Why wouldn’t we do everything possible to reduce this number?  This dilemma of profit vs health says a lot about our society, and where Americans are placing their values.  Americans such as James Calvin clearly care more about their own profit than the well being of fellow human beings.