Should the government step in and save you from smoking in your own house?

Question

After all the government knows what's best for you, so when they pass the law that forbids you to smoke, eat crappy food, cuss, etc. Just thank the great leaders and shut up.

I think that as a single man, while I am paying for illegal immigrants to, have health care.... Think I will do what I want when it comes to the substances I put in my body..

Answer 1

I know this woman who has a major obsession with second hand smoke. She will actually cross the street to get a wiff of someone’s cigarette. She then demands that they extinguish it on the spot. BTW this same person lives on junk food, never exercises and takes no position on air or water pollution. I guess some people are just using smoking as a politically correct excuse to be @ssholes.

Answer 2

Yes, if you are damaging the property of another - a rental for instance.

Yes if you are damaging the health of another by negligence.

How would any of that be different from everything else that is already regulated, such as the quality of the wiring to prevent fires, which have a social cost and a health cost, same as smoking?

Or that the curtains and carpet must be non-flammable to a regulated extent?

Or what you may or may not pour down the drain into the sewer system?

Seems to me the only difference between that and lighting a cig in your house is you want to put the hazardous material in your mouth and essentially feed it to your baby instead of pouring it in the drain.

From a legal point of view anyway, which is what you asked for, right?

You don't have to like the answer, but that is the reasoning. You are free to present an alternative case, but this seems to be on pretty solid ground given the lack of public objection to other house regulations.

Answer 3

Perhaps the ones that want to have the government do this would like a law that requires cleaning up your but after you go to the toilet. Then they will need an organization that will have to check and see if you obeyed the law. There would have to be a tax hike to fund that and then several other things would be tacked onto the bill, such as building a bridge in the desert so snakes can get across the road to the other part of their habitat. This will cause massive arguing between conservationists and pistol packing MaMa's which will affect the any upcoming elections causing people to get smeared even worse that the initial wiping bill might cause. I think there needs to be committee to research this before any decision is made.

Answer 4

The government should get out of the business of medicine in all areas. They are not qualified to determine what is good for any individual. They have no right to legislate pregnancy, shots for children, smoking, (I think that an argument can be made that smoking is good for some people), or drinking, or health care, and they certainly don't have the right to legislate what we do in our own homes. As long as a substance is legal, I don't believe that the government has any right to say anything at all.

Answer 5

You have to think about the fall out of individuals health care on the entire system. It is estimated, that smoking costs society 100 Billion a year on related health care. Obesity costs society maybe 5 times as much or more. A lung cancer patient on live support for 3 month could cost the taxpayer and/or insurance community easily Millions.

Answer 6

No, they should not, if we allow them that authority, hell, lets go all the way and let them decide who can procreate and who cannot, after all, allowing some of these freaks to have kids is alot more dangerous to our health than smoking. Just look at the current administration.....and I`m a conservative :)

Answer 7

Too much govt intrusion into the lives of the citizenry will lead to only one ending: revolution. We already have far to many rules, regulations, laws, ordinances, etc.

I sense your cynicism and applaud it. Big brother is too big and needs to be curtailed a bit.

Answer 8

That's does it! Thanks for the heads up on the G-polizei. Can I buy a 30-00-06 on eBay? Gonna give a whole new meaning to homeland security. Eats shoots and leaves.

Answer 9

"Stepping in" would require that they both identify and then learn to use a door. I think you are safe to carry on smoking.

Answer 10

No. They have no right telling people what they can or not do in the privacy of their own home!