The number of adults smoking in New Mexico is down. Now a word from our administration:
“It’s exciting to learn that more New Mexicans have made the healthy choice to eliminate tobacco from their lives,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release. “We expect to see our state’s smoking rates decline even further as we diligently work to educate New Mexico about the dangers of smoking and provide resources to kick the habit.”
No, she didn’t. She couldn’t have said, “as we diligently work to educate New Mexico about the dangers of smoking and provide resources to kick the habit.” What she really should have said was:
“Yes, this is great news. The current drop will save New Mexicans $395 million in the long term. Of course, it could have been a whole lot more, but one of the first things my boss, Governor Bill Richardson, did upon getting elected to office was successfully push a bill to dismantle the tobacco settlement fund. See, he really doesn’t need to worry about the long term health and prosperity of New Mexicans. He’s not planning on being here very long.”
It’s also not surprising that Secretary Lujan Grisham forgot to mention that teen smoking continues to increase, but hey, it is just another way the administration continues to fail our kids.