Donation may go up in smoke

By: BRIDGIT JORDAN - Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:48 PM PDT ∞

The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, has pledged $125 million of his personal fortune to a campaign to reduce cigarette smoking worldwide.

I am not one to question a person's motives or what they should do with their money, but it seems there are better uses for the funds.

I understand the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke. But isn't smoking a choice, a choice of freewill by free-thinking adults?

If individuals want to smoke, they are going to and no amount of money thrown at a campaign to make them stop will change their mind.

Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said, "Having made so much money in a system of liberty, it's too bad that he feels obligated to spend it in a way that reduces other people's liberty."

According to The New York Times, Bloomberg would spend the money to create and support programs aimed at helping the world become tobacco-free. The campaign would work on developing and expanding quitting and prevention programs, encourage the adoption of New York-style tobacco taxes and smoking bans, and design a system to track tobacco use and efforts to stop it worldwide.

The campaign would also work to change the image of tobacco, support efforts to educate communities about its harms, create a global clearinghouse for anti-tobacco ads and bring together a legal consortium to assist in drafting and passing legislation, according to the paper.

When I heard of this enormous amount of money given to this cause, I thought of all the other things this money could have been used for.

For example, how many people could be fed, clothed or helped to find work? What about teenagers who wander the streets and malls with nothing to do? Think of all the spouses and children whose loved ones have perished in the war? Could they not have been helped with college funds, home assistance and family counseling to cope with their loss?

I believe this money could have gone a long way in Mayor Bloomberg's own inner city, where schools are dilapidated, kids are dropping out and drug and gang violence are ever so prevalent.

There are many programs within the United States that work so hard on all of these issues, and I am sure that these organizations would have been so grateful for the help ---- and more importantly the funds ---- that are so desperately needed to continue with the assistance they provide. Money given to these organizations could be put to immediate use with visible results.

How will the public benefit from this donation? Will we see huge numbers of nonsmokers? I doubt it. Statistics have shown that for every smoker who quits, one starts.

Bloomberg was ranked No. 7 on the list of top charitable donors in a 1997 survey. However, his critics believe that this campaign goes too far in forcing governmental restrictions.

Bloomberg has given to a cause he wanted to give to, but what will it really accomplish?

-- Contact Bridgit Jordan at bjordan@californian.com.