ORWELLIAN

TRAVELING DOWN A SCARY PATH:
The Path of Big Brother

See a Smoker in a Non-Smoking Area? Call 911
If you catch someone smoking in a non-smoking area in Omaha, Neb., call the police. The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is encouraging city residents to call 911 in the wake of the citywide ban on smoking that went into effect on Oct. 2.

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"It's not an over-reaction, it's a good use of our city resources" that are being squandered on smokers, according to Welsch.

"I think about 13 percent of our total Medicaid expenses are caused by tobacco," Welsch said. "So, I'm paying too much. I don't want to subsidize tobacco use in my state. We should have just enough to break even. For next year, we would have to raise the tobacco tax by about 50 cents per pack -- just to break even."

Smoking isn't the only problem that needs fixing to trim down the costs, Welsch said. There's also a problem with food consumption that needs attention.

We're such a fat country, by and large. Somebody needs to do something, or our Medicaid and Medicare costs are just going to continue to go up and up, not just because of smoking, but because of people being overweight and too lethargic to take their butts outside and walk," said Welsch." Full article.