If smoking is bad for your health and ban in many public places here in Canada, why not ban drinking too?

Question

Is this not double standard? Smoking is deadly and so is drinking. We know for a fact that it is equally serious to health but it seems drinking is socially acceptable and the authority is doing very little almost to nothing to ban drinking. How many people are killed each day because of drunk drivers? How many wives are suffering from abuse by their drunk husbands. How many children suffered and seriously hurt because their parents are alcoholics. How many people has to die pre-maturely because of serious drinking problem?
Should not the government make this as serious as smoking with labels warning people of the danger of drinking? Please share your thoughts on this. This is serious because if we all take action, just imagine how many lives will be saved.

Answer 1

we can't really generalise here, not all booze will deteriorate ones health, wines per se is proven healthy for the heart; if you argue that we should ban drinking because it is equally dangerous to smoking, shall we ban products with high caffeine contents like starbucks coffee or pepsi? because i believe that causes diseases to...and to argue that numbers of road accidents are partly because of drinking? it's absurd, we have laws that prohibits you from driving when you know you're ****** up, so it's plain stupidity in your part if you still do...and being drunk is not an excuse so you can batter your wife, you'll be in jail! if smoking is ban in public places, so is drinking regulated, can you buy beer if you're below 18? hell no. remember that irresponsible drinking has no impunity.

Answer 2

I somewhat agree with you to a small extent. I know what you are getting at, but your logic doesn't follow.

We have the same issue here in America. In the early 1900's they banned alcohol and demonized all who drank until so many people were doing it anyway, it bred contempt for the law. Now, if you want to drink to excess and abuse your system to cut your life short, then it is on you.

Cigarrettes and alcohol kill millions every year here, by different means, and marijuana does not. It is illegal here because most of it comes from Mexico, and there wouldn't be an effective taxable measure to benefit the economy here. God forbid Mexico should make any money off the U.S.

Just because you are a drinker that doesn't make you a drunk driver, or a wife abuser. What about drunk abusive wives?

People need to be responsible for themselves and the government shouldn't be concerned with saving lives all the time for everything. That sound contrary to popular belief but there is technology other that can by satellite track every single person in a country and solve all murder, theft, rape, etc... but do we really want the government to see what we are doing everywhere all the time just to save some lives. How could we trust mankind with that power? That would make life not worth living and I would rather have some die by the way things are, then live that way.

It may seem a little overboard with just a small law, but if enough tiny laws are passed, everyone becomes a criminal and they can pick on you anytime they want.

Answer 3

Smoking does not cause cancer or actually kill people. It is a carcinogen and not necessarily healthy. Some people smoke all their lives and can still have a clean bill of health. The individual person's physiological well being is the factor. Smoking bans restrict the rights of businesses or individual store owners to decide for themselves whether or not to allow smoking in their establishments.
One could also argue that there are good effects as well as bad with most anything.
Drinking is the same. Though here the balance of intake and philosophy of moderation in everything is where people screw up. Alcohol doesn't directly kill people. Someone may decide to drink so much that they end up killing themselves by alcohol poisoning. Or they may be irresponsible and decide to drive when they have had too much and shouldn't be driving.
Prescription drugs are bad and in most cases worse than either of the above, yet they are handed out like candy which by the way overindulgence in can be bad.
So ban pharmaceutical companies which consistently put out new drugs to 'cure' the health problems caused by the last batch they flooded the market with.

So I ask, what happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Should not one have the right to do as they please so long as they do not harm others and be free from government regulating their entire existence?

Answer 4

Smoking wasn't banned in public places because it's bad for you, it was banned because when you smoke around other people, in PUBLIC, they don't have a choice whether to inhale your sickening fumes or not. Smoking is dangerous to your health, so someone who doesn't smoke shouldn't have to jeopardize their own health just because someone else wants to pollute their bodies. Alcohol can not ruin the health of the person sitting next to you just by being near you like smoking. So there is no reason to ban it.

Answer 5

this world is an imperfect place
first there is democracy people must have some freedom of choice .but drugs are not allowed so democracy is a limited concept.

secondly the establishment makes a lot of money o the alcohol business so that is why it is allowed ,even though it is responsible for uncountable road deaths and broken homes .
one day you will realize that the publics well being is not the governments main concern

sad but true

Answer 6

Thats where the hyprocracy comes in. There is lots of tax money to be made selling both. If they Govt. was serious about both they would make both illegal. And not be able to collect taxes on either. But with the revenue coming in on both..Sin taxes as they call it. The dollar speaks louder than the public.

Answer 7

There are some practical solutions to reduce the affects of alcohol abuse.

However, prohibition is impractical.

The majority of adults drink in moderation.

Answer 8

Almost all violent crime, murder and automobile deaths in the U.S. are alcohol related. An automobile emits more harmful particulate pollution in one day than a heavy smoker emits in one year. Financially, the biggest drain on our health as individuals and as a nation is obesity. Sixty percent of U.S. citizens are sick with obesity. Childhood asthma rates are rapidly shooting through the roof due to petroleum-based air pollution, not cigarette smoking, and has become a severe problem. But, banning cigarettes gives everyone a feeling of having "addressed" pollution as good civic-minded folk, all the while big oil companies and the processed food industry gets away with murder . . .literally. Oink oink. Cough cough. "We're outta Bugles, Bubba. Let's fire up the new Ram truck and go get us sum MORE! I WANT IT ALL!!!!!! (burp.)" LOL

Answer 9

Because some of us like to use the free will that God gave to us. If we want to smoke or drink, That is OUR right, not the governments right to tell us we can't. Personally I have quit smoking just because the government thinks it can impose higher taxes for it. But I defend anyones desicion to smoke and drink!! Think for yourself.

Answer 10

The reason why smoking is banned is because of its direct effects on others. Alcohol has indirect effects such as crashes but smelling alcohol does not kill.