(Karra debates tobacco and smoking where we look at many of the benefits and negatives of smoking. Tobacco and smoking were two separate points discussed because of different effects on the body from each.) 

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Karra: okay, as I am a healer at heart, let us look at healing and certain negative activities that are harmful but have beneficial effects. For example, nicotine addiction. Its harmful properties, lung cancer, stomach problems, lack of sleep, lack of increasing in weight, dietary problems relating to that and a few others. Okay, benefits from smoking.........yes?

Russ: oh I know what those are.

Karra: which are?

Russ: relaxation….

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: ease of stress and tension.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: a euphoria first point in the morning, a relaxant at the end of the day.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: oh yeah, it’s both a stimulant and a depressant.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: so it serves both functions and the body tells the nicotine….

Karra: what to do.

Russ: or the nicotine tells the body, one of the two, what to do.

Karra: okay also, it helps to decrease inflammation of the intestinal areas and, as far as I can tell but my research is preliminary and I hope to continue it, smokers do not suffer from Alzheimer’s.

Russ: you don’t have many smokers to study up there do you?

Karra: no. Also, tobacco is a preservative.

Russ: hmm.

Karra: it is also able to help to reduce swelling in a poultice form. Tobacco also helps to darken the skin pigmentation for protection like a sunscreen.

Russ: aren't there side effects from that?

Karra: well it gets soaked into the skin.

Russ: right, wouldn’t you get a carcinogenic side effect because of it?

Karra: not any more higher than too much exposure to sun.

Russ: oh.

Karra: you see the problem with smoking is not the tobacco but the chemicals that they put in there. For people that don’t inhale and smoke cigars, the increase in cancers is only about 5% higher than most people.

Russ: really?

Karra: is that acceptable?

Russ: well anything’s going to kill you.

Karra: exactly.

Russ: as long as you’re having fun doing it, I don’t see any problem.

Karra: exactly so, by looking at this persecuted habit, highly persecuted habit at that, it is you have to look at things from both ways. For example, on your planet smokers die sooner than most people, correct. Smokers tend to be more reliable work employees. Smokers tend to be more relaxed and work harder. They don’t take so much time off due to ill health. People that are supposedly healthy on your planet seem to be more sick than most smokers. On my estimate a ratio of 2 to 1. Now the fact that they die at a earlier age and work harder could be a very useful tool in your government’s crusade for healthcare for children. Instead of pocketing the money which is basically what they’re doing, why not use the money from smokers that die early to pay for welfare for children, healthcare for children? You see? There’s a big flaw in trying to get rid and ban smoking in your country or any country. It’s a good idea but it’s not thought through.

Russ: well isn’t the fact that second-hand smoke is 10 times more deadly than first-hand smoke?

Karra: no.

Russ: if I remember statistics, something's worse about it though.

Karra: yes but it is not that high.

Russ: okay but at the same time, aren’t smokers then persecuting non-smokers by smoking around them?

Karra: yes.

Russ: aren’t they…it’s like an AIDS victim going out and having sex with people who don’t have AIDS.

Karra: uh-huh however, however, let us look at something that is far more insidious, air pollution by automobiles. Do you know living in Los Angeles is the equivalent to smoking two packets of cigarettes a day?

Russ: oh no I didn’t.

Karra: uh-huh. Living in San Francisco is the equivalent to smoking one packet a day. Living in most metropolises within the United States is the equivalent to smoking between half a packet of cigarettes to a packet of cigarettes a day. But yet the automobiles aren’t persecuted, the automobile owners aren't persecuted for polluting and introducing something far worse into the air, carbon monoxide than cigarette smokers are doing….

Russ: oh yes they are.

Karra: automobiles are…..

Russ: oh yeah, I’m a person......I can tell you personally that it happened to me.

Karra: that you’ve been persecuted?

Russ: yes I have.

Karra: okay, let’s hear the story.

Russ: well I bought my Jeep in California, I registered it in Nevada….

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: then I had to re-register it in California. California charged me $300 because I was registering the vehicle from out-of-state and it hadn't been smog approved in California when it was built.

Karra: uh-huh, but that is persecution by the government.

Russ: state.

Karra: by the state. Smokers are persecuted by everybody. Now why is it that one group is persecuted and one group is not?

Russ: because one group is killing another group who isn’t doing anything about getting all the pleasures that smokers get, they're just being killed….

Karra: because they’re being selfish.

Russ: no, because they’re around smokers.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: oh you mean the smokers are selfish.

Karra: the smokers are selfish….

Russ: yeah.

Karra: because they’re getting the enjoyment.

Russ: right and they’re basically harming people who aren’t getting the enjoyment.

Karra: what about automobiles?

Russ: well they’re the same thing.

Karra: exactly but one group is persecuted and the other group is not because one is perceived as not necessary and the other one is perceived as necessary.

Russ: well one is seen as a luxury and one is seen as….

Karra: necessity.

Russ: a necessity, a habit.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: automobile driving is not habit.

Karra: it is a necessity, that is a perception.

Russ: correct.

Karra: which is more healthy, to hop in your vehicle or walk? Let us say you want to go to your workplace which is about a mile and a half away correct?

Russ: uh-huh.

Karra: which is healthier?

Russ: walking.

Karra: which is more time economical?

Russ: driving.

Karra: which is worse for you?

Russ: driving.

Karra: which is able to transport a larger quantity?

Russ: driving.

Karra: so you see?

Russ: right.

Karra: one, smoking is perceived as harmful however getting back to my initial starting, nicotine helps to sooth intestinal problems and they don't get Alzheimer’s. Now what makes the smoke from cigarettes so bad?

Russ: well as you said, the chemicals.

Karra: correct. Now, how do you fix the problem? Take the chemicals out.

Russ: yeah.

Karra: simple. So, which is worse, smoking or driving?

Russ: smoking.

Karra: both are equally worse, both are equally harmful.

Russ: you know I’ve got to disagree there.

Karra: okay.

Russ: for one thing, I don’t live in San Francisco and I don’t live in Los Angeles.......

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: therefore, I’m not breathing automobile fumes that would equal up to a pack or two packs of cigarettes a day.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: I’m living in South Lake Tahoe maybe I’m getting half a cigarette, I doubt that, maybe a full drag.

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: whereas hanging around someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes….

Karra: uh-huh.

Russ: I’m actually getting a pack of cigarettes.

Karra: okay now let’s look at it slightly differently.

Russ: okay.

Karra: how many people in South Lake Tahoe have died this year, this 365 day period from smoking?

Russ: I haven’t the slightest idea.

Karra: maybe one or two. How many people have died in automobile related incidents?

Russ: again, I don’t have any idea.

Karra: I can think of……..actually Tia says that she knows of a friend of Mark’s that was killed, a young lady that Mark knew that was killed and she says that if we hold on she can look up on the computer but I don’t think we have time. How’s the tape looking?

Russ: it's getting short.

Karra: okay, I am done.