Regrettably, we live in an age of health obsession. The gym has replaced the bar as the place that professionals go after a long day of work. Organic grocery stores have invaded our shopping malls, and abstaining from eating meat is deemed somewhat posh. Even O'Hill has a vegetarian line, complete with vegan chili, whatever its ingredients may be. Not only is it difficult to find restaurants with smoking sections anymore, but in some places, cigarettes are even banned on the sidewalks. Thanks a lot, Giuliani. But the granola-eating, Pilates-crazed masses don't realize that the things that are supposedly bad for us have huge upsides. I'd even argue that they can be good for us ... and not just in moderation.\nSmoking is one often-maligned leisure activity that has some benefits. It may not be healthy for one's body to smoke cigarettes but it certainly is healthy for the economy. Cigarettes, especially now that they're going for about $7 a pack, garner huge tax dollars to build schools, roads and all that jazz. And the way addicts are about their cigs, I'm pretty sure taxes could be tripled and smokers still wouldn't be deterred from buying their fix. Not to mention, our state - and maybe even our country - wouldn't be where it is today without the tobacco industry. Hark back to those fourth-grade Virginia history classes, and you'll remember that the economy of the New World boomed after John Rolfe discovered tobacco. I'd go as far as to argue that smoking is a patriotic activity, one in which any Virginian should be proud to partake. Even Barack Obama smokes menthols, a fact that convinced my staunchly Republican haystack of a grandmother to vote Democratic for the first time in her 70-some-odd-years.\nAnd what is a natural compliment to smoking? No, I'm not referring to emphysema - I'm talking about alcohol. Like smoking, drinking bolsters the economy. Even during recessions, people drink. In fact, they drink more. Look to the line at Coupe's in the current economic crisis for evidence if you doubt me. For the Comm-Schoolers out there, if we want to get technical, alcohol companies have historically low betas. It's a good thing Prohibition was repealed right before the Great Depression, or we may have never gotten out of it. Concerning the artistic folk out there, drinking has its benefits for them as well. Some of the greatest artists of all time were drunks. Hemingway, Capote, Lohan ... you get the picture.\nThen there are the emblematic golden arches, visible from any highway in the country. McDonald's is always under fire in the press for selling questionable meat and contributing to the obesity of American kids. Maybe the first argument has some basis; I'll never forget the infamous "Chicken McHead" incident of the mid-1990s.
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