Does anyone else think that smoking should be illegal?

Question

I dont understand why it is legal for smokers to put non smokers health at risk just because they want to smoke. It makes me so mad when I am walking behind someone smoking(not knowing it) and they blow smoke right into my face. anyone think it will ever become illegal? I do have family members that smoke but I am very against it due to the fact that they are putting my health at risk.

to CANTAKE-it is botheringsomeone else. it is putting my health at risk when you light up in public.

and NO I DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE EVER. I have a brother in law who was hit by a drunk driver when he was 2 years old and is very dependent on people now. I Am very against drunk drivers and I take offense to the fact that you assume I drink and drive because I do not by any means.

Thanks to all for the differing opinions. Yes I do still believe that smoking should be illegal just as I believe there should be harsh punishments for drunk driving. I am not a smoker but I do feel that secondhand smoke affects my health and no one has the right to take away my life because they are addicted to smoking. I do appreciate all the differing opinions althought the disrespectful answers I could have done without.

Answer 1

I totally agree with you. I think that smoking should be banned in all public places. If they want to smoke at their house, that's fine because I won't go there. I also think that many states should follow my neighboring state of Iowa. They put a $1 tax increase on cigarettes and now lots of people are quiting.

Answer 2

Well sorry but I do not think legislating this is the right way to go. Punishing those who smoke is no more right than being subjected to it when you do not. If the goverments were not cowards and made sure kids did not have access to them until they are actually mature enough to choose. (21) Do just that and it will become non existant on its own. If the smoke bothers you at your relatives tell them about it and do not go if they can't make a change when you visit. And In your own home you have every right to dictate what happens there,no one should be smoking in your house. You have a right to breath clean air. Now out side no one has any right to say anything unless someone is being obnoxious the out doors are where they have been driven. The air is very much worse out there for you than the smoke from a passerby. There must be places for these people to go where ever they go. Then you will find less needing to be standing around smoking it will be hardly noticable. I have smelled things much worse than that too. The toxic air we breath in our own homes from our paints,fancy electronics, finishes,chemicals ,fibers,insulation,fumes should be more of a concern. That will kill you first. Unless you are in a confined space with constant smoking and no fresh air it will not affect you . They are having fun adding untruths to something that has enough bad there is no argument that inhaling smoke all the time can't be good . Smokers also have rights it is a legal product for over several hundred years,like spirits and wine and we see what legislating it did for those. Time and directing the energies to stopping kids from starting, you will find few smokers today or in my day who started as adults. Give them time to grow up and they will make the right choice,they will not start. Kudos for choosing to only breath that other stuff. Take Care ~A~
Just tossing my Opinion in the Opinion Pool
<>< <>< <><

Answer 3

While were at it let's make cars and any motorized vehicle illegal because of the carbon monoxide they produce and the effects it has on your lungs. Household cleaners are another thing we should consider due to the chemicals that are in them and they also can cause respiratory issues. Maybe even any pollen producing plant as they can cause upper respiratory allergic reactions.

I think your question is valid, but your fear is not realistic.
You should really do some research on the health risks to a non smoker who occasionally smells smoke. There is not a health risk. The risk becomes real if you are continuously around a smoker.

So if your question was should we make cigarettes illegal because they are nasty and gross and cause many deaths per year my answer would be - yes or a least the FDA should regulate them as they are a drug. Since your question is based on a media hype fear - no.

Answer 4

It has never been a proven fact that passive smoking harms others!!!
Dont you think something that ruins peoples lives like alcohol should be band before smoking!!!
Im a smoker and when all the new laws came in i hated it but know i think is a good idea to help people get used to the idea of quiting!!
I think if you have such a big problem with it stay away from peoples smoke!! We already have unuff bloody rules on where we can and cant smoke!!!

Answer 5

Do you honestly believe that when you smell smoke from a cigarette outside that you are at a greater risk from that than you are from the mercury and sulfur from the power plants, or from the exhaust and particulates from all of the vehicles on the road? Are you truly that brainwashed?

When, from the smog from traffic, you can't see two miles away, isn't it a bit ignorant to think that a single cigarette is more dangerous to your lungs?\

I'm not a smoker, but the rhetoric from the anti-smoking nazi's is so out of line with reality that makes no sense anymore.

Use your head and start worrying about the more dangerous chemicals that you breathe everytime that you walk near an automobile. Think about what's going into your lungs when you drive in a tunnel or behind truck. The miniscule amount of toxins you might get into your lungs from walking behind someone wih a cigarette so pales to everything else in the environment that I find it ridiculous when people complain as they do.

Answer 6

No, tabacco should NOT BE ILLEGAL !! We live in a country where the word FREEDOM, rings out, true and loud. I am not , nor have ever been a smoker, but I respect the Freedom Rights of all our taxpayers and citizens. If your so against the smokers then it is your duty alone to protect yourself from the smoke. You need to leave or go somewhere other then where smoking is. In the United States we need to stand firm, to make sure the Freedom Bell is ringing for our Freedom. It is people like you , who make our Freedom less and less. We respect your Freedom of Speech, and it would be awful if you were not allowed to voice your opinion. So Please have respect and do not challenge the Freedom of people who Smoke. The dear sweet old Grandpa's of this Nation, loved their smokes. It is everyones Rights to smoke and it is your Right to walk away from a smoker. We need to have Respect for others.

Answer 7

I am a smoker and I get so tired of hearing everyone complain about smokers. Lets be honest the person you are walking behind did not stop in their tracks turn around and blow smoke in your face. If they did this it has nothing to do with them being a smoker it has everything to do with them being a jerk. Why don't we make alcohol illegal. All those drunk drivers are putting my life at risk when they decide to get behind the wheel after going out. Have you done that?

Answer 8

Uh...it's called freedom. You make your own choices about what you put into your body, and whose company you spend time in...and (if you have a business) whether you'd prefer to cater to smokers or non-smokers [we've already lost that freedom].

There is no LEGITIMATE evidnece that "2nd hand smoke" bothers anyone- and even if there was...again, it's freedom of choice.

I many other countries, people smoke alot more than here in America...and yet there rates of lung cancer and other diseases related to smoking are alot lower than here...and their non-smoking population doesn't have any higher incidence of smoking related diseases (from 2nd hand smoke) than anywhere else.

Look, people can smoke for 4 packs of cigarettes directly into their lungs for 40 years before they get lung cancer or emphysema...do you really think that getting a whiff of smoke on the street or in a bar is going to effect your health?

Personally, I think riding a motorcycle is alot more dangerous than smoking, and there's statistically alot more proof that riding a motorcycle will kill you or seriously injure you.....yet I wouldn't dream of suggesting that riding should be illegal.

As adults, we all make our own choices and deal with the consequences of those choices. And what's really absurd, is all the pollutants that cars and trucks are pumping into the air, every minute of every day....if you live in a city, you are exposed to TONS of such pollutants every day....and you're worried about a little miniscule puff of smole from someone elses cigarette?

Answer 9

i'm a nonsmoker and i say that people should be allowed to smoke if they want to. it's their personal choice.
i don't know how old you are... but do you go to bars? do you go to concerts?
it's the same thing as me walking into your favorite bar and saying that they should ban music because i think it's too loud, or because i don't like listening to music. if you don't like what's going on - don't go there.
no, smoking tobacco will never be illegal - they make too much tax money off of it. prohibition does not work - look what happened when they tried alcohol prohibition...
there is so much out there that is way worse for your health than second hand smoke - isolate yourself in a padded room in an air tight sealed bubble so that none of that stuff effects your health... and while you're there, do your homework about how bad second hand smoke is for you.

Answer 10

I'm a non-smoker. Do you REALLY want the government protecting you to that extent? How about the fumes from buses, exhaust from cars, the particulates that you breath in when you go to the beauty shop (my pet peeve in the malls when I am gagged by the gasses release from the permanent wave solution).
My mother was sickened by the smell of MOST women's perfumes, as are many others. Many neighbors can't stand the smell of charcoal lighter or the burning of charcoal in bar-b-ques. I would imagine that Muslims might like to have the cooking fumes from pork banned. I'd definitely go for no fish frying near me. (eating is fine, cooking stinks).

OK, so what do you think. Where do you start when you want the government sticking it nose into your business. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Answer 11

It wouldn’t count if it grew to become into unlawful, human beings might nonetheless smoke because of the fact they have an habit. drugs are unlawful and look what number human beings take them. As for ruining your well-being, I’m not denying 2d hand smoke is undesirable for you, yet have they actually arise with any information that it kills non human beings who smoke? could you besides mght not stress a motor vehicle because of the fact the exhaust is harming the atmosphere, use electrical energy, consume processed nutrition or use hairspray? to assert somebody else smoking a cigarette is killing you is almost redundant. I’m not asserting “Ya, human beings could smoke”, yet whilst in comparison with all the different risky issues you put in or on your—physique and to not point out all the crap floating around in our atmosphere—human beings who smoke are particularly the least of our concerns.