Smoking

[condor]

Would anyone support an outright ban on smoking, i.e. the sale of cigarettes?
Around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco. Unlike alcohol, cannabis and ecstasy, even small amounts of smoking can give you cancer.

If tobacco is a drug, just like heroine or cocaine, why is their a god given right to sell it. Cocaine was previously legal and smoked widely but then criminalised.

All these measures to stop smoking through banning advertising and smoking in bars seem to be pussyfooting round the issue. Ban the sale of cigarettes just like cocaine.

 

[pete rose]

Fuck that shit, I need my smokes.

 

[AlexanderAvery]

The Straightedge man is saying don't outright ban them.

If people want to walk to an early grave let them. That is their call, and as long as they don't blow it into my face I don't see how it is hurting me. We live in a free society and if people choose to sell poison, that is their choice. We as people need to choose if we want to buy it or not.

 

[Ace Bandage]

Now, that smoking is banned in most public places (at least where I live), I have no problem with it. If people want to slowly kill themselves in the privacy of their own home, I'll all for it.

 

[brodkill]

Fuck that shit, I need my smokes.

can i bum a smoke off you? i need one badly

 

[BlueBalls]

As much as you wish to try, you cannot protect people from themselves.

If people want to smoke, then they are going to do it no matter how many ways you try to muddy the path by which they purchase them. It's not like making other drugs illegal has really done all that much to stem the tide of users. All it has done is allowed a black market to form around their production and sale which has inevitably lead to an increase in crime, death and incarceration. Lessons should have been learnt in the 1920s during the Prohibition era; if there's a need for something, there are ways of allowing people with enough money to get it. If we aren't willing to continue to wage and pay for an endless 'war' against those fulfilling the need that the state isn't willing to provide then it's time to rethink our approach.

So no, we shouldn't ban cigarettes. All you'll be doing is shifting the market over to the crime lords who currently help run the drug industry.

 

[SpexyAshleigh]

I don't think there should be a ban on cigarettes- if people want to destroy their body, thats their own business. But smoking should be banned in ALL public places. Its one thing to pollute your own lungs but to expose others around you to the chemicals just isn't cool.

 

[pete rose]

Honestly, I think it should be up to the owner of the establishment. There are a few places in my area that allow smoking inside. I'm not a rabid fan of smoking indoors, but if the novelty presents itself...

And yes, the place smells like a cigarette hag.

 

[John_8581]

As much as you wish to try, you cannot protect people from themselves.

If people want to smoke, then they are going to do it no matter how many ways you try to muddy the path by which they purchase them. It's not like making other drugs illegal has really done all that much to stem the tide of users. All it has done is allowed a black market to form around their production and sale which has inevitably lead to an increase in crime, death and incarceration. Lessons should have been learnt in the 1920s during the Prohibition era; if there's a need for something, there are ways of allowing people with enough money to get it. If we aren't willing to continue to wage and pay for an endless 'war' against those fulfilling the need that the state isn't willing to provide then it's time to rethink our approach.

So no, we shouldn't ban cigarettes. All you'll be doing is shifting the market over to the crime lords who currently help run the drug industry.

I agree. You'll never be able to tell people what's good for them. When I smoked you could do so in restaurants, bars, and offices, even on trains. Now it is outlawed.

Just to further comment on BlueBalls statement...

There is already an underground market out there. Ever try to buy cigarettes without your state's tax stamps? (Provided you live in the US and/or Canada) Yes, as most of what you pay about 75% of the cigarette's overall price goes for taxes.

So from an economic perspective, that's why they'll never be banned totally. There is way too much revenue out there being generated on state sales and excise taxes and federal excise taxes alone.

 

[Trident1]

Banning smokes would:

Only drive it underground where a thriving black market would make them available.

Be another sign the gov't is trying to control everything you do.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

No...but I will say this, it was easier to quit smoking weed, then cigarettes. Plus what Trident1 said.

 

[domshooter]

fuck that. i smoke, and i like it (except on sundays after a hard weekend). and banning it in all public places is bullshit too. if i wanna walk down the street havin a smoke, i will!

studies are inconclusive to the effect of second hand smoke in open air anyway. besides, if someone doesnt like my smoking i always either put it out, or move. that is if i havnt already asked them about it.

dont tread on me

 

[Hot Mega]

There should be no bans on cigarettes..not even drugs IMO. I also believe bars and restaurants deserve the right to decide for themselves if they want to allow smokers or not.

You should be able to smoke in all open, public places too. If you happened to get an occasional waft of cig smoke..you'll live...it's not much worse than the tailpipes you sucked on stuck in traffic getting there or the cheap cologne of the guy next to you.:dunno:

 

[Ike Stain]

There's nothing I used to love more than drawing that smoke down deep into my lung and feeling the nicotine creep into every pore and crevice of my body.

They should change the name to "cancer death sticks" though.

 

[Boothbabe]

Smokers are cheaper healthcare wise so it's a good thing to have them around. If nobody would smoke the price of healthcare insurance would go up :tongue:

 

[John_8581]

A ban on cigarettes, leading to more government control? Nah... it would lead to doing more harder stuff in crackhouses and shooting galleries in Harlem, the South Bronx, and also in the Huntspoint section of the Bronx, and in East New York, Brooklyn. [Also more bodegas in Queens...]

By the way, they are all fine upstanding communities.

... NYC would be the world leader in detoxes, hospitals, rehabs and halfway houses...

 

[larss]

Would anyone support an outright ban on smoking, i.e. the sale of cigarettes?
Around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco. Unlike alcohol, cannabis and ecstasy, even small amounts of smoking can give you cancer.

If tobacco is a drug, just like heroine or cocaine, why is their a god given right to sell it. Cocaine was previously legal and smoked widely but then criminalised.

All these measures to stop smoking through banning advertising and smoking in bars seem to be pussyfooting round the issue. Ban the sale of cigarettes just like cocaine.

As has been mentioned before, banning it just means that the criminals will have the market and smokers will still smoke. Prohibition does not work.
Cannabis, when smoked, is a carcinogenic and DOES cause cancer. Alcoholics have other problems than cancer to deal with, including serious liver problems. Ecstasy affects the way that the body handles body heat and can cause symptoms associated with heatstroke, and has cause around 200 deaths in the UK since 1996.
Only smoking, though, whether it be tobacco or pot, affects others around the person smoking.

Banning smokes would:

Only drive it underground where a thriving black market would make them available.

Be another sign the gov't is trying to control everything you do.

Correct

fuck that. i smoke, and i like it (except on sundays after a hard weekend). and banning it in all public places is bullshit too. if i wanna walk down the street havin a smoke, i will!

studies are inconclusive to the effect of second hand smoke in open air anyway. besides, if someone doesnt like my smoking i always either put it out, or move. that is if i havnt already asked them about it.

dont tread on me

I spent a good deal of my life as a smoker, and always said that I enjoyed it. I was kidding myself. I did not enjoy smoking, I enjoyed the removal of the feeling that I want a cigarette, and even that only lasted 10 minutes or so at a time. They smell bad, they are bad for your health and the cost far too much (in the UK they are now around £7/$11.50 for a pack of 20).
As a smoker, just think to yourself how you would feel if your kids took up smoking. As a smoker, I was somewhat upset at first when the smoking bans came in for pubs and restaurants until I found that it meant cleaner air in these places, and my clothes did not stink of smoke. I also smoked a lot less - smoking with a pint I would almost chain smoke, as a lot of people did on a night out when you could smoke where you liked.

No, you cannot ban the sale of cigarettes, but you can ban them from most public places.

 

[larss]

There's nothing I used to love more than drawing that smoke down deep into my lung and feeling the nicotine creep into every pore and crevice of my body.

They should change the name to "cancer death sticks" though.

Is there some reason you said lung instead of lungs?
Indicative of the damage that smoking does

 

[condor]

You seem to have ignored one point I made. Cocaine was made illegal, now hardly anyone smokes it. Black markets only occur when people really need something rather than being addicted to it.

Think about it: your death damages society wether you like it or not. How many people smoke crack cocaine now? Virtually none. How many more would smoke if it was legalised and considered okay? I dread to think.

 

[Hot Mega]

You seem to have ignored one point I made. Cocaine was made illegal, now hardly anyone smokes it.

^^:1orglaugh Talk about irony. condor you must be high...How's the air up there (in the clouds no less)??

The only reason why any narcotic sees or has seen a dip in usage is either because some people who never have (attrition) ..never will and others are using other rec. drugs.