There are lots of strong feelings about cigarettes and tobacco. Cigarettes have been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths; the United States military estimates that health care for ill and dying military personnel alone costs in excess of $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars) every year. Some people believe that tobacco should be regulated as a drug. Others believe that smoking is a chance they have the right to take, much like the right to ride a motorcycle or do other risky things.
Out on the World Wide Web, you'll see people supporting both sides of this argument. Sometimes their arguments contain a lot of facts; other times their arguments are either very emotional or just plain not true. Your job today is to look at a variety of World Wide Web sites and explain why you think they are telling the whole truth, part of the truth, or none of the truth and whether you think they do a good and fair job of supporting their side of the smoking argument.
Some of the sites listed below are "pro-choice"; others are anti-smoking; a few walk the fence. You probably won't have a hard time knowing which are which. Inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement by the Web author (Jon Margerum-Leys) or the University of Michigan.
FORCES-THE PRO-CHOICE ON SMOKING ORG. PRO-SMOKING LINKS
Smoke Peace Europe - Home Page
Welcome to the RJ Reynolds Home Page
Tobacco ControlSmokeScreen: The Tobacco Control Activist Network
The sites above should give you plenty to look at. If your teacher wants you to look for other sites, you can click here to go to a search engine page.
Click on the icon below to download a copy of the worksheet for today, if your teacher wants you to use this sheet.