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Patient Commentary
Don Fielder
Arch Fam Med. 1998;7:268.
My name is Don Fieldler. I am a Marlboro Light smoker who collects Marlboro Miles. I started collecting Marlboro Miles after the County Store campaign was over, so I have collected for 2 years or so. A coworker, who happens to be my night engineer, and I collect together; his name is Mike Johnson. During the first unlimited offering, he and I sent in about 30 000 Marlboro Miles and received coats, jackets, shirts, lights, optics, sunglasses..., you name it. This time around for the offer ending August 15, 1997, we sent in about 20 000 Marlboro Miles and received camp stoves, walkie-talkies, steak knives, beach towels, and more. I need to mention Mike is not a Marlboro smoker, although he does smoke. We have also collected UPCs and coupons of other brands in the past, such as Kools, Camel, and Merit, which I used to smoke. We also have collected Pepsi Points. Most of our Marlboro Miles are picked up on the streets or parking lots, and Mike goes to a couple of ballparks and does some dumpster diving. We have pulled over on the way home from work on interstate highways to pick up Marlboro Miles. All the merchandise we keep and use because we are both hunters and fishers. These programs have not kept me buying this brand or changed my interest or attitude about cigarettes or smoking. I do not encourage anyone to use tobacco, young or old. I do talk this addiction down to young ones. And addiction, yes, it is, as we have recently found out from these companies about putting all these additives in tobacco. If I were an employee of one of these companies, I sure the hell would not tell anyone. If the facts are proven of these additives to tobacco by these companies to addict people and to sell the product, I believe the persons in charge should be charged and prosecuted by the law, and I do not mean just fining them. Give these chief executive officers some jail time. They are no different than some housewife who poisons her husband with antifreeze or rat poison. This fine from the government stinks. Any money received should go to the persons who smoke whom they have poisoned. I use this word poison because I believe overconsumption or exposure to chemicals is the cause of most of our cancers today. And guess what, I have and still do work for 1 of 2 of the biggest chemical companies in the area and have for 20 years. And my wife worked for yet another one. I have worked in the production of many products, such as growth regulators, herbicides, fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals. I do believe these companies make products that benefit all mankind and would never supply a product with the intent to addict anyone. Not to mention the outstanding safety programs that they provide. I do believe that everyone in the country should have health benefits, but not through taxation of just tobacco or alcohol users. Let us tax toilet paper and let everyone chip in. Collecting Marlboro Miles to Mike and me is nothing other than a game; it is an offering that we took advantage of. Let us just hope that we can come up with something to cure our addiction.
Arnold, Mo
RELATED ARTICLE
Cigarette Continuity Programs and Social Support for Smoking
Walton Sumner II, Michael Dunaway, and D. Gene Dillman II
Arch Fam Med. 1998;7(3):264-268.
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