<p>
[quote]
Smokers cost our society money...
For every pack they smoke, society has to pay about $70...
[/quote]
Where the hell did that number come from?</p>
<p>GreenDay: I understand that you have personal reasons to be against cigarettes but you have to learn to seperate personal opinion from the political aspect. For instance I am completely against abortion, but I don't think the government has a right to tell a woman that she cannot have an abortion. You've got to understand that it is not the job of the government to hold our hands and for political and economic reasons, cigarettes are legal (tax money etc...) but more importantly even after all of the lawsuits, the government realizes that it is not within their scope of power to restrict activities such as smoking.</p>
<p>why is everyone singling out me(and by the way i WILL NOT change my opinion anytime soon)On every other issue i am pro-choice but this one i wont waver on..andthere were numerous other people who took the survey and said cigarettes should be banned, bother them please!</p>
<p>You can't be pro-choice on many other things and not on this. The idea of being pro-choice on something is that the government can not restrict someone from making the choice - abortion for instancte or gay marriage. You can not be pro-choice on those and not on cigarettes. If that is the case then you are merely for the activity or not for the activity. You need a civics lesson.</p>
<p>1) Age = 17
2) Grade = 12th
3) Gender = Male
4) Do you smoke? = No
5) If so, how long have you been smoking? - N/A
6) If you are under the age of 18, do you plan to smoke? = No
7) Do you live with someone who is a smoker (parents, siblings, etc.)? = No
8) Why do you (or someone else you know) smoke? = idk, to be cool
9) Should cigarettes be continued to be made? or should they be banned? = Banned b/c of the second hand effects to others</p>
<p>As I said in the survey, cigarettes should be banned not because of what people are doing to themselves (addiction, health reasons), but what they are doing to everyone else. The second-hand smoke is dangerous to anyone and may cause emphysema, lung cancer, heart problems, etc. From a personal point of view, I believe it is possible--unlike what many others think--to quit smoking. It just takes determination, confidence, and hope. This requires the education. I'd gladly like to debate this issue if needed. I was selected to work for a Smoking Cessation Research Project at University of Rochester over the summer and they are still expecting me to come--but because of my current location (NJ) it's hard to go all the way up there.</p>
<p>1) Age = 18
2) Grade = College freshman
3) Gender = Female
4) Do you smoke? = Hellz No
5) If so, how long have you been smoking? - N/A
6) If you are under the age of 18, do you plan to smoke? = N/A
7) Do you live with someone who is a smoker (parents, siblings, etc.)? = No. My mom quit about five years ago.
8) Why do you (or someone else you know) smoke? = Some kids are dumb enough to think it's cool. My mom thought it was cool when she was a kid and had a hard time quitting.
9) Should cigarettes be continued to be made? or should they be banned? = As much as I hate everything about cigs, banning them would just create another vice. Can you see the government declaring a "war on tobacco?" LOL I can see the DEA flying around seeking out contraband crops, now. I guess it would take some of the pressure off the pot growers ... ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
You can't be pro-choice on many other things and not on this.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I sure as hell can, buddy. :) and suman made an excellent point that cigarettes <em>should</em> be banned because of what second hand smoke is doing to others. There is no second hand abortion, and there are extenuating circumstances with abortion that can make it a viable option too(like if the mother;s life is in danger)...you're comparing apples and oranges.</p>
<p>second hand smoke? that's pure ********, traffic pollution can be just as bad if you live ina big, pedestrian city. unfortunately, most american cities are not like that... anyway, second hand smoke can only get to you if you are standing near a person who's lit a cig and can only be harmful if you do that day in day out. so it's once again a choice to smoke, even if it's second hand smoke. smokers don't go up to people's faces to exhale. as for restaurants and bars, there are laws on the issue in almost every country, there are lounges for smokers.
oh, and another thing-you can die from lung cancer without ever smoking, if you have a genetical predisposition. My girlfriend's dad died from lung cancer and no one in the family smoked. I'm not saying smoking is good, but it doesn't really kill, just helps you die sooner;)</p>
<p>There are negative externalities associated with so many things. Abortion can leave the mother depressed and mentally ill for many years. Alcohol leads to death in some cases and puts a negative burden on the family, and also causees DUI wrecks. As I've said and will restate you cannot be libertarian with respect to abortion and gay rights and not with regard to cigarettes unless you are letting your emotions make your decisions which you obviously are. There is no place for emotion in politics.</p>
<p>Not to change the topic, but to all you people defending everyones right to smoke, do you feel the same way about other, specifically hard drugs? Don't I have a right to use heroin too?</p>
<p>I actually do support virtually across the board legalization, but I'd be interested in what the rest of you "libertarians" believe.</p>
<p>they're both drugs, they're both nonviolent and don't affect others. If legal and regulated heroin would actually be pretty safe, as opiates are very non-toxic to the body, discounting the addiction it's a hell of alot safer for the body than tobacco is. </p>
<p>In principal, I see people here arguing tobacco should be legal because "criminalization would cause black market" which is an arguement for legalizing other drugs, and your own arguement that "no one is forcing them to smoke" and that "it's their own choice" which could easily be applied to hard illegal drugs as well. If you accept those arguements for one drug, what makes heroin any different? </p>
<p>have either of you ever seen someone, in first person, under the influence of heroin? they are so out of control and out of their mind its not even funny. ya, VERY comparably to cigarettes. also, tobacco has no lethal limit in a sense of over dose (yes yes yes i realize that after 30 years of smoking it it could be considered "lethal"), while heroin is outrageously easy to over dose on. dont get me wrong, im probably the biggest supporter of the legalization of marijuana, but heroin? come on guys.</p>