Should tobacco be banned?

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Should Tobacco products be banned?

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
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Rocket2001

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 25, 2004
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Massachusetts
I'm posting this topic because I find it a very interesting subject, although polarizing. People have very strong opinionson either side. I violated the terms of the user agreement when i posted on this subject before and I apologize to any who were offended. I am reposting an edited version of my last post.
Here's my opinion: I am somewhat of an extremist on the subject of tobacco...I cannot belive that there is a consumer good on the market that is known to kill the consumer. And I'm just not talking about minor negitive effects...tobbaco is known to cause cancer. If it were any other product...and i mean any, it would be banned from the market. Why isn't it?...one word... economics. Our economy would crumble if tobbaco were banned...the major tobbacco companies knew it was coming in the future so they diversified and now have control in hundreds of major companies. Kraft Foods is controled by tobbacco as is Miller Brewing Co. and on and on.
Imagine if a brand of bubble gum caused cancer...would it be on the shelf..or a breakfast cereal..would it be on the shelf...or a toy for kids. What happens to drugs they find causes problems..they are pulled! The mortar that holds together this country is tobacco...in the 1700's its what made us an economic power. unfortunalty we cannot get away from that. So now we have a known cancer causing product that people who have decided to not smoke are forced to inhale at public places. How does that make sense.
 
try to banded it all you or anyone else wants but that will not stop people from using it ! its getting to the point now that this goverment is taxing it so much that people are going to start selling tobacco on the black market just to dodge the taxes ! think about this have we stopped the import of cocaine or pot ?? thats been going on forever !! they cant stop tobacco being sold on the black market ! unless they keep the prices down !.

i love this saying from a cop in georgia " you can only police people as much as they want to be policed "

so until we win the war on other illegal drugs your wasting you time on tobacco imo sorry :-/
 
I do not smoke. I have in the past(20 years ago). I think that it is a matter of choice and that any idiot that does it is an death seeker but that is their choice. The stores and restaurants and even a lot of bars, have already banned it so you can't say you are being forced to inhale other peoples smoke. Yes smoking raises the medical costs for everyone, but so does overeating. If extremists start trying to outlaw smoking what is next, twinkies? If you do not like smoke, do as I do, avoid going to smoke oriented outings. All of my kids smoke, but none of them smoke at my house and I do not go to theirs for more than a couple of minutes. However, I do feel sorry for their babies having to live in that environment.
 
Granted I voted yes because I am very against smoking, you have to realize that if you banned tobacco strictly based on that it causes cancer (and has been proven to) then you also would have to ban alcohol which has been proven to cause liver failer and such.

While I voted yes in the poll, I do feel that tobacco should be legal, because they have a warning on it and if you want to smoke it anyways and not care about your body, then do it. However I feel that it SHOULD be banned in ALL public places except at specific smoke shops.

I don't want to smell that smoke. :evil: YOU decided to smoke... not me!

-brent
 
I used to smoke a pack a day. Then I stopped. Now I enjoy a cigar or two a day.

The reason I love America, is because we have freedom to choose.

Now, I agree that people should be allowed to go out to dinner, and not have to inhale copious amounts of 2nd hand smoke. And lets face it, smoking sections don't 100% contain smoke to that part of the restaurant (unlike a smoking room at an airport...a solid cloud of smoke fills those sealed rooms).

If you feel passionate, talk to your city council members. My city voted and passed a measure to ban smoking in ALL public places...including bars AND tobacco shops (which often have a lounge area for patrons to fire up)
I feel its a little asinine to disallow smoking in a business that sells tobacco...but on the flip side the only way to really make it fair is to make everyone follow the same law.

If you want to risk cancer by smoking, that's your choice. If you want to risk a heart attack by eating poorly and not exercising, that too is your choice. If you want to drink yourself to liver failure...again, you have that right.

Thus, I voted 'no' in your poll.
 
First, I agree with the points Malkore made. I used to smoke all the time and I still like the occasional cigar. But it's usually sitting on my front porch by myself and not in a public place. If you want to know what it would be like it tobacco were banned, look at Prohibition. Would it be good if everyone stopped smoking? Absolutely. Will it ever happen...legal or not? I don't think it will. I just don't think making it illegal will ever be a solution. My opinion anyway.
 
There is a warning on the box. If you are at an establishment that allows smoking sections and you are not sitting in it, but smell the smoke, blame the management for a poor ventilation system. Not the smoker. If you ban smoking you will have the same problem as pot smokers. Stupid arrests that wast taxpayer money.


BTW; I quit smoking a few years ago and have never smoked pot.
 
Absolutely not, Like Malkore and loganj I too enjoy the occansional cigar, but personally I do not care for cigarette smoke. There are a lot of things I do not care for, but that does not mean they should be banned. I feel others need to be more courteous of those who choose not to smoke. Maybe more regulations limiting smoking areas are in order, but these scare me as well.

Any movement to limit our freedoms scares me as history has shown that one thing quickly leads to another and before you know it the land of the free is no more.

I wear a military uniform to protect our freedoms not to take them away. People make choices daily. If we are going to ban tobacco then we best ban all fast food and alcohol because our nation is headed down a the wrong path when it comes to health and fitness as well. I feel it is quite contradictory for the overweight person sitting at the end of a bar eating fried cheese curds to complain about smoke in an establishment that allows smoking. seen it happen.

Education is the answer to the ill affects of tobacco and stats show it is working with younger people.

Bottom line be careful for what you ask for or soon you will not be able to ask for anything. America is the land of the free for a reason. :wink:

JMO,
 
I don't understand the extra courtesy to non smokers. If you are in a place that allows smoking then go for it.This idea of banning smoking from restaurants and bars is unfair. Mandate proper ventilation! Why should it be banned because someone finds it repulsive?
-Jay
-nonsmoker
 
If you ban smoking you will have the same problem as pot smokers. Stupid arrests that wast taxpayer money.
I think that maybe you would change your mind if a family member was injured in an accident caused by a pothead, with impaired judgment, driving under the influence of marijuana. Before anyone tries to compare this to alcohol remember that is something easily recognizable with field sobriety and breath tests.
Sorry if I offend anyone but I tried to tone it back from how I feel. What you do to your body is your choice but DUI and DUID affects the innocent, not to mention that marijuana is a gateway drug to other "hardcore" drugs.
 
I don't condone pot. In fact I've never smoked it. I just find it ridiculous that repeat pot smokers go to jail and some of the hardcore criminals walk because there is no room and banning smoking would yield the same results.
I mean no offense by the next part, seriously, but I would rather be the passenger to a pot smoking driver than to one on a cell phone. The stats on traffic related deaths and injury dwarf those of pot smoking related auto accidents.
 
That is merely a play on insufficient statistics. An investigating Officer can easily determine driver inattention but may not always see the use of marijuana as a cause. Most pot smokers would not freely supply this info to the Officers as the cause of an accident.
 
Keep it on topic, or it will be locked, if you want to discuss marijauna use or it's effect on driving, start a new thread.
 
Sorry to rocket2001 and everyone else. To bring it back on topic I also think that a ban on smoking should not be done. Many previous posts say it best that you should blame the establishments for not providing the proper atmosphere for each of its specific patrons.
 
Ban it - no ... it won't work. Prohibition didn't work - neither will banning tobacco. I have a feeling that even it everyone in the USA stopped smoking, the tobacco companies would barely feel the loss in revenue. All you have to do is travel to other countries to realize that as a nation we appear to smoke less than most of Europe. I have never seen anything like it - and China is supposed to smoke even more. I would love to see a comparison of US tobacco sales compared to US tobacco exports.

I have read a few interesting blurbs about other pharmaceutical uses for the proteins produced by the tobacco plant. Some interesting things may come out of the plant yet.

I agree that education is the best plan to decrease tobacco use . Ultimately tobacco use is a choice.

BTW - I'm a definite non-smoker - never have smoked - have had no desire to smoke.
 
I don't think you should ban it on the basis that its ones right to choose.. then again I am torn because my mother smokes and her boyfriend and its just horrible. My house, my room, even my clothes smell like smoke, and i don't smoke. It also causes problems because i developed asthma... So.. Im torn in half about this....X.X
 
I think it might have been better to word the poll question a little more towards banning in all public places. Even those that keep stating everyone should have the right to choose would probably vote yes (I hope) because there's no worthwhile argument for making non-smokers inhale secondhand smoke.

I do find it interesting though, how passionately people defend certain obviously dangerous/lethal products.
 
Clown Monarch said:
Smoking should be banned on the same day that unhealthy food, motorcycles, and sunbathing are banned.

And as soon as my sitting fully clothed next to a sun-bather puts my health at risk, I'll agree with you.

Smoking is fine by me, as long as you're not making me do it with you. I'm for banning smoking in public areas/reastuarnts etc. What someone does on their own is none of my buisness.
 
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