Can someone give me some reasons why tobacco is not illegal?
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Anonymous
Cheese or cream? This is so stupid. It's such a stupid "argument" when people compare tobacco to "bad" foods and other things in an effort to draw a comparison or parallel. There is no other legal substance that is anything remotely like tobacco. Tobacco is in a league of its own. There is no (legal) substance in this country that is even close to tobacco in terms of the adverse health effects and toxicity. Cheese, alcohol, etc. are all totally fine in moderation. Tobacco is not. That's one way to spot the difference. |
Anonymous
Interesting fact: lung cancer kills more people than any other type of cancer, including breast cancer |
Anonymous
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It's not mind-alerting so it does not effect one's ability to drive, care for a child (although you shouldn't smoke around the child), or generally function in life. Alcohol does inhibit your ability to function and think rationally so it is regulated. Other mind-alerting drugs also effect your ability to function and perceive reality.
Tobacco causes cancer and is addictive, but in the short term its immediate effects on your ability to function society are not like other drugs. |
Anonymous
| Anyone remember how successful the government was the last time we tried to regulate morals? Do you see how successful we are in fighting the "war on drugs?" They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. You are an idiot, |
Anonymous
As someone who suffers from a chronic condition and literally would not be able to live any kind of normal life without prescription painkillers, I don't think it's fair to place them in the same category as something like alcohol or tobacco, which also can be abused but don't have any medical benefit to anyone. I know your point isn't that painkillers should be illegal, but I really really hate the stigma that goes along with being reliant on them. I didn't choose this and I can promise you that my use of medication is not, has never been, and never will be "recreational." You can't really say the same about people who start drinking, smoking, or even eating fatty foods. If anything, their lives would be improved if they could kick their habits. I would be bedridden. |
Anonymous
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What do you mean by "legal"? You think it should be a federal crime to possess tobacco? to sell tobacco? Or a state crime? Felony or misdemeanor? Tobacco use is highly-regulated in many ways- taxed at a high rate, illegal to sell to anyone under 18, illegal to smoke in many private and public spaces, etc.... Who knows, maybe we'll get there at some point, but I think that would be a shame.
I agree that tobacco is a killer and that there is no real redeeming value, but I'm really not sure I would want to live in a place where the government could universally criminalize something with like that. I am all for regulating the hell out of it to limit the negative affects of second-hand smoke so that non-smokers were not endangers, such as increased limitation on where people can smoke. But if someone wants to sit in their home and smoke all day, I really can't see a justification for that being a crime. |
Anonymous
| Someone tell me why abortion is not illegal? I see no good in it! |
Anonymous
Christ on a cracker, calm down. PS, most laws originate from "thoughts". |
Anonymous
Okay, clearly a tobacco addict |
Anonymous
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"But if someone wants to sit in their home and smoke all day, I really can't see a justification for that being a crime."
I agree with your general thought, but the unique thing about tobacco use is that if somebody were smoking in their home all day, and their kids were there for example, they would be affected too. The smoke that goes everywhere is the problem. If it were something that only affected the user, it would be different. |
Anonymous
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There's a very learned constitutional scholar, who has been widely published on a number of deep weighty issues of our time, and also happens to be President of the United States....and is a smoker. Don't blame the lobbyists for that one.
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Anonymous
This is a myth. they are both equally harmful. But so is alcohol (and spare me the "wine is so good for you BS" b/c I really think that the amount of wine that is healthy is a lot less than what people actually drink, and they use the "it's good for you" to justify it). |
Anonymous
Agreed -- tobacco addicts are not very rational until they get their fix (I'm guessing she hasn't had her morning ciggie). |
Anonymous
I should also add that he absolutely loves abusing his executive authority, what with him being the very first sitting president to have opposition in Congress, snarf, snarf. I wouldn't hold you're tobacco free breath that anything will change anytime soon, with the exception of raising tobacco taxes on the poor to pay for healthcare for our children (yes, that's how S-CHIP is paid for people). |
Anonymous
I don't agree that alcohol is "totally fine" in moderation. And I also think that the issue with alcohol is that a lot of people simply CANNOT drink it in moderation. Any substance that impairs your decision making is difficult to do "in moderation" b/c as soon as you start, you aren't objectively able to assess what is past the point of moderation. |