The Surgeon general just said secondhand smoke CAN kill. Who agrees then that cigarettes should be illegal??

Question

I hate cigarettes, but I know they will always be legal because they make so much frickin money off of the stinky things.

Julie-I'm thinking back really hard, and no, I don't think I have ever done anything INTENTIONALLY to hurt someone so bad that it could possibly kill them (or unintentionally for that matter). Does that make me perfect? If so, thanks!

And I understand people have the right to smoke, but when it begins to affect other people, the law needs to step in. Maybe not making them illegal, but restricting where people can smoke.

And you can't outlaw food or alcohal or tampons or red meat or whatever else some of you are saying for this reason. The government can't control what people do to their own body, but when it affects the wellbeing of other people they need to. I can't control walking out of a building and having to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to the sidewalk.

Answer 1

They killed my father. Small cell lung cancer.
The government gave them away during WWII.
It really promoted them and caused a generation of addicted people.

However, you will create smugglers that are not taxed and increase the overloaded court system if you make them illegal. I think that taxation and insurance incentives may be a better way to discourage smoking. Fining smokers for smoking in public places has started and I am sure that more can be done.

I think that loosing the Tax revenues and making this industry go underground would not stop it but make battling the problem more costly. I could be wrong and offer this only as another viewpoint after talking with some Dutchmen about similar issues in their country.

Also, I do not think that Police will give much priority to laws against smoking cigerettes when they are already overloaded with meth addicts, etc. and understaffed. My cousin is a NARC.

Answer 2

I am a non-smoker, but I do believe there is too much to be lost by banning smoking ... first of all, it's a proven method to help people relax, and in the get up and go type country we live in, it's not a bad thing to light up and calm down now and then .. secondly, many people use it, not just as an ice breaker, but as a means of socialization .. I have a hard time picturing a night life with people that can't stand around and share a smoke ... Third and most importantly, a countrywide ban on smoking would put tobacco companies out of business and cost thousands of jobs .. whether or not you're a supporter of smoking, cutting out an entire workforce and putting families in very difficult positions is not right .. People are aware of the effects of smoking ... if they want to do it, let them do it .. we're talking about free will

Answer 3

Already see a range of answers posted both for and against the concept and both are valid and that's what makes it rather tricky. No one can argue the fact that cigarettes causes health problems, heck even smokes agree on that.

But once you start the slippery slope of making common items illegal its becomes a mind field of right and wrong. If some could go into asthmatic shock because they are allergic to a perfume should all perfumes be banned? Food allergies can actually kill, should all those items be stricken from the diet of everyday Americans? Don't even get started with alcohol!

So let's pretend that everything that causes harm is illegal, well you shouldn't be reading this since that monitor is harming your eyes...

Answer 4

I do not agree. It is all a matter of personal freedom and of personal responsibility. The government can deter people from doing things that are unhealthy by the use of taxes and tax breaks but the minute it starts outlawing everything because people are not responsible for their own actions than we end up with a babysitter, not a government. That way of thinking results in nothing less than a burning of the Bill of Rights.

Answer 5

Did you know the exhaust from your car produces millions more carbon monoxide than cigarette smoke. there was a study during the 1994 or 96 olypics in atlanta where they didin't allow anyone to use there cars for the duration of the olympics and found that respiratory illnesses as well as respiratory episodes dropped 97 percent. By simply driving your car you are affecting thousands who don't want to breath in your exhaust verses the few that are affected by second hand smoke. By driving your car you are killing our children, I wonder what the sureon general has to say about that.

Answer 6

People can choose to smoke, but smoking around kids, smoking while pregnant, should be illegal. Regardless of people doing things that hurt themselves- that's fine... but when it affects others, innocent people, children, etc. it should be considered unlawful. There are a lot of people who do worse things- but, people, wake up!!! Oh, and get a mirror- it's just NOT attractive to look over at you in traffic while you have a cigarette "a danglin' out your mouth" ... but it does go well with the yellowed fingernails and excess facial wrinkles, etc. It's all your gain, I guess.

Answer 7

They are already severly restricted and there is no real reason you have to go where they smoke. So what you really want is to make it illegal for everyone?

Next we can make cars illegal, and smog!

In that case that is your issue, not theirs.

And I am an ex smoker and I can't stand the smell!!

Stay out of bars, though some are going to non-smoking!

Answer 8

At least make public smoking illegal. I went to casino this weekend & realized once again that smokers never hold cigarette in front of them so they can enjoy the smoke. They hold it to the side where those of us with clean lungs get smoke in our faces. I have relatives that smoke, but I choose not to smoke & would like to go in public places & not smoke your cigarette. I live in NC - the heart of tobbaco country & my grandfather had a huge tobbacco farm , but it does not make it right. This does not even bring up the issue of insurance cost from self inflicted cancer by smoking. Smokers - don't get your panties in a knot, I am entitlted to my opinion too!

Answer 9

I don't smoke. They should be legal.

This is the USA. It is supposed to be the land of the free and home of the brave.

I am an adult. It should be my choice. Cars kill. I have two. Many things are dangerous. That does not mean that adults shouldn't have choices.

With the rights of adulthood, we expect both the privilege of options and the responsibilities that come with them.

Answer 10

the surgeon general is nuts
50% of people develope cancer
50% of smokers develope cancer
SO smoking causes cancer.WRONG
SMOKEING MAY TRIGGER A REACTION TO CANCER THAT WOULD OF DEVELOPED REGARDLESS.
smoking to much like drinking to much is harmfull to your health like being over weight .
IF they proved out-right cancer is caused by smoking it would be banned .90 year old men and women are walking around with a cigerette in there hands so where is the hard evidence linking smoking to death other then some doctores beleif that it contributed to CONTRIBUTED TO death all things contribute to your death.
SO does your risk of being killed in by a plane increase substantualy if you fly not realy you have a .023% chance if you fly and a .005% chance if you do not.SO it is possible that flying increases your risk but not flying does not make it go away.
GET a grip on statistics and what they are used for its a sales pitch with numbers please do not buy into it and all the rehetoric surrounding second hand smoke it smells bad is all and no link is established in fact to say second hand smoke causes anything but smelly clothes and hair sticks to walls in bars but mostly darkens greasey walls in diners.