Certainly tobacco kills people. Nonetheless, it is disingenuous to say that as such it is a more dangerous substance than either cocaine or marijuana. For while it may harm one's health, tobacco does not affect one's intellectual processing or decision-making ability. As Professor Wilson explains:
Tobacco shortens one's life, cocaine debases it. Nicotine alters one's habits, cocaine alters one's soul. The heavy use of crack, unlike the heavy use of tobacco, corrodes those natural sentiments of sympathy and duty that constitute our human nature and make possible our social life."' Think of it this way: Research fairly convincingly has demonstrated that cholesterol is bad for people, and in fact may be responsible for a large amount of heart disease in the United States. In essence, chole