Move Over Oil for Food, it's ... Cigarettes for Stem Cell Research

LifeNews.com, an anti-abortion web site, often gets news stories first, as in the case of the state of Washington's plans for a big stem cell program. Somebody up there in Olympia looked south and got jealous. Anyway LifeNews is apoplectic about the fact that the Governor of Washington is planning to put some or all of its $350 million tobacco money into stem cell research. It's a smart idea, one that several other states are considering but that Washington looks poised to push forward. Next: a tax on slot machines for ADD research, and after that look for a tax on prostitution to fund erectile dysfunction research.