RUSH: To the phones, to Half Moon Bay, California, this is Christie. I’m glad you waited. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Thanks, Rush. I just wanted to go back, earlier in the day you made a comment about lung cancer. Well, actually really about tobacco death stats. I just wanted to say, my uncle has lung cancer, and he was treated for over a year with various chemo treatments, and at the end of that year he said, ‘Okay, no more chemo. I can’t handle this. You’re going to have to find another treatment,’ and the doctor looked at him and said, ‘Well, we should find out whether or not it’s genetic.’ They were like, okay. There were different drugs to try, if it’s genetic, but the thing was he went through a year of this, and I’m wondering if that stat might be off, because had the chemo not worked, you know, as it did —
RUSH: You’re talking about the statistic that half the people who smoke die?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: I kind of ran by that, too. Why doesn’t everybody who smokes die?
CALLER: Exactly. And his mother died of lung cancer, and she never smoked a day in her life. And this doctor took a year to consider looking at that. So I’m wondering about that stat, Rush.
RUSH: What are you wondering about?
CALLER: I’m wondering if it isn’t wrong, off. You know, sure, he smoked, but if this turns out to be genetic, it wasn’t a tobacco related death —
RUSH: Oh, you mean the statistic that 50% of the people who smoke die from a tobacco related disease, is that what you’re saying?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Well, I don’t know, statistics are statistics. Not quite sure I understand.
CALLER: Well, I’m saying if they didn’t look deep, let’s say that my uncle —
RUSH: Oh, you’re saying all those deaths would be related to tobacco, some of them could have been genetic.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Oh, oh, oh, okay.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Well, look, if the World Health Organization had come out and say that half the people who use tobacco products don’t die, that’s sort of going against the grain. They want everybody to believe that if you pick up any tobacco product, particularly cigarette, that you’re doomed, you’ve had it, you’re finished. And, of course, look, the odds are that you’re running a far greater risk, but it’s not axiomatic. It’s been one of my points all along ever since I was a young kid. How come, if this stuff kills everybody, why isn’t everybody who ever smoked die from it? Some of these wackos, ‘Well, they do, Mr. Limbaugh, smoking may cause high blood pressure. They probably all do die in one way or another. May not all be lung cancer,’ and so forth. Probably will not be able to talk them out of that.