It’s all good or is it?

Years ago I worked for someone who liked to use the phrase “it’s all good”. I noticed that she only used it when actually it wasn’t all good; in fact, the only time she used it was when dismissing the obvious downsides of an action or situation.

New technologies seem to coast in with the same attitude presented as pure benefit and no cost. But when it comes to something like using nicotine the opposite view seems dominant in that “it’s all bad”.

Nicotine users are the last to say “it’s all good” about their use; whether or not they accurately determine the costs they are under no illusion that there are costs but unlike the blinkered anti-tobacco folks, they also realize there are tangible benefits.

It’s no secret that nicotine use (like caffeine) confers certain cognitive benefits so we have a substance that like every other substance has costs and benefits. However the typical missive from the antis or the media follows tobacco or nicotine with hopeless addiction, fears of poisoning children, toxic environments, litter, and rising healthcare costs and rarely anything else.

It is only once we move past the “it’s all bad (or good)” that we will get anywhere on this issue.

-Paul L. Bergen