Wow Mercy, you've really been doing your homework tonight. Thanks so much for sharing all this. I've got this interesting tidbit to add. In 2003 The Philip Morris Companies changed the name of their parent company to Altria Group. According to their website it's to differentiate between the parent companies and the tobacco companies. They claim that this had nothing to do with wanting to distance themselves from the tobacco names. They don't want to "confuse" their external audience! Sure - just shows how much trickery they use. Guess they figure most of the investors out there wouldn't bother to research them and see who they really are?? [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/29/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 36 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 432 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $146.88 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 7 [B]Mins:[/B] 57 [B]Seconds:[/B] 56

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS THESE ARE ALL RECORDED TRUE QUOTES!!.....BE SHOCKED AND BE GLAD YOU HAVE QUIT!! READ THE QUOTES A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN....AND GET PHYSICALLY SICK. What have the companies been telling us? Tobacco use isn't dangerous Nicotine isn't addictive Environmental Tobacco Smoke isn't dangerous. They don't want kids to smoke What do their secret documents say? The companies have known for many years that tobacco use kills. They hired scientists to discover a safe cigarette, but none could be developed. They've known that nicotine is a drug and that it's addictive. The companies call cigarettes an ideal drug delivery system because they are convenient, portable, and are self administered. The level of nicotine in tobacco products is controlled by the companies to keep their customers addicted. Privately, they have conducted research on Environmental Tobacco Smoke which showed that it's dangerous. They want and need children to replace the 5,000 customers who die and quit smoking every year. THE QUOTES!! Here are some quotes from the tobacco industry that became public as a result of Tobacco Trials. This is what the tobacco industry says "BEHIND CLOSED DOORS." The tobacco industry actively markets tobacco to teens. "They got lips? We want them." (Reply of an RJ Reynolds representative when asked the age of the kids they were targeting.) "The desire to quit seems to come earlier now than before, even prior to the end of high school...attempts to quit are very painful, they thought they could quit easily, but they soon learn..."they have become SLAVES to their cigarettes. (Imperial Tobacco) A memo from Brown & Williamson consultants recommended the company use a "sweet flavor cigarette... It's a well known fact that teenagers like sweet products. Honey might be considered." (B&W 1972, from John Schwartz, Documents Indicate Strategy of Targeting Teen Smokers, Washington Post, February 5, 1998, p A3) David Goerlitz, the former Winston Man, asked RJ Reynolds executives, "Don't any of you smoke?" One executive answered, "Are you kidding" We reserve that right for the poor, the young, the black, and the stupid." (As quoted in a New York Times editoria