I don't understand smokers. I tried a cigarette once, when I was about 11 years old. I always wondered what the attraction to smoking was, so I waited until my grandmother left the room, and then I took a drag off of one of her Salem menthols. As the tar-laden smoke hit my epiglottis, my lungs hollered, "Get in here!"

My taste buds rebelled, my stomach threatened to rebel and I was thrown into a paroxysm of coughing. Everyone who has ever smoked a cigarette has had a similar reaction. So why, after that first wretched experience, would anyone ever put another cigarette in his or her mouth?

Cigarette smoking has no benefits. It tastes bad. It makes your breath stink, your clothes stink, your car stinks. It turns your fingers yellow.

It causes lung cancer, oral cancer, emphysema and heart disease. But you know all that. And if you want to ruin your own health, why should I care?

I care because, even though I don't smoke, I help pay for the medical costs of those who do. Americans spend billions of dollars a year treating smoking-related illnesses, and Medicare pays for a large portion of that treatment. Why should my tax dollars subsidize the health care of people who have voluntarily engaged in a self-destructive activity?

I care because I don't like to breathe other people's smoke. Their right to suck on a coffin nail should not preclude my right to breathe relatively unadulterated air.

I care because my grandmother smokes, and I'm #afraid she'll die of cancer or emphysema. I care because my fiance's grandmother did die of cancer, and even though it's been nearly 10 years, he still has a hard time talking about it.

But are smokers the real villains? I don't hold them blameless. After all, nobody forced them to smoke that first cigarette. People aren't automatons, completely at the mercy of slick advertising and marketing schemes. And the information concerning the dangers of cigarette smoking is readily available.

But this fact remains. Nicotine is addictive, and the tobacco companies know it. Whether or not they artificially spike cigarettes is undetermined, but it's no secret that the levels of nicotine in cigarettes can be manipulated. Different strains of tobacco contain different levels of nicotine. By choosing a high-nicotine variety of plant, the manufacturer can produce cigarettes with elevated levels of the addictive substance. And don't think it doesn't happen.

Tobacco companies are merchants of death. Their CEOs are pulling down millions of dollars a year as a result of the faithful patronage of addicted smokers around the world. Don't they see anything wrong with this? Is their sleep ever disturbed by thoughts that a lifelong Marlboro smoker is, at that moment, gasping for her last labored breaths, or that a 10-year-old with a family history of lung cancer is lighting up for the first time?

Alcoholic beverage companies sell a dangerous product, too, you might argue. But at least Anheuser-Busch admits that alcohol can be bad for you. Liquor companies support designated-driver programs and campaigns that discourage underage drinking. The tobacco companies, on the other hand, still deny that nicotine is addictive, and they only reluctantly admit that smoking damages your health. They don't discourage children from smoking, either. After all, they need to replace the half-million customers who will die this year.

Most conservatives in Congress don't see anything wrong with this, since, after all, the tobacco companies and the smokers are exercising their capitalist, free-market prerogative. I'm all for free enterprise, but using capitalism as an excuse for murder is unconscionable. At some point, we have to draw the line, and if that means increasing government interference, so be it. Congress can start by passing legislation covering the following points:

Eliminate smoking in public places. I don't care what people do in their own homes, but when I pay to eat a meal in a restaurant, I don't want any free smoke with that.

Outlaw tobacco advertising. This means no billboards, no signs at ballparks, no coupons and no sponsorship of athletic events. Why are athletes promoting cigarettes, anyway? Was there ever a bigger hypocrisy than the Virginia Slims tennis tournament?

Outlaw cigarette vending machines. They make it too easy for kids to circumvent the age requirement for cigarette purchases.

Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid payments for the treatment of smokers with tobacco-related diseases.

Finally, tax the hell out of tobacco products. Perhaps a higher price will discourage some people from starting. And the government will receive more revenue, which can then be used to fund health care and anti-smoking campaigns.

In short, let people smoke if they want to. But don't let them smoke around me, and don't ask me to pay for their stupidity.

Kim Graves is a marketing senior who doesn't usually espouse such liberal views
hello there & you too