If nicotine is considered to be an addictive drug, why haven't we banned smoking??

Question

And it isn't the smoking that necessarily bothers me, its the fact that kids and elderly have to endure being exposed to second hand smoke.
If nicotine is that bad for you, why don't we just ban nicotine in cigarrettes?

Answer 1

The big corporate lobbiest have convinced the rest of the world that smoking, while bad for you, is a choice.

Answer 2

There are a lot of things that are bad for us that the government does nothing about.

There are competing issues and to really understand the answer you will probably have to think seriously about the politics or the ideologies involved.

Many people do not want a nanny state. They want to be able to make their own choices in their lives, as long as they are not harming other people when they do so.

Others look to the government for solutions to everything, to the point that they are willing to give up a lot of rights and freedoms for the good of society.

Of course, things are muddied by issues such as partisan politics and business sponsored lobby groups, which really create a lot of confusion around any particular topic with their highly spun messages.

In any case, the nicotine in a cigarette is certainly addictive, but of course it isn't the substance that does harm to others when they inhale second hand smoke. Something that might be easier to accomplish, and you see it happening in many cities, is a ban on exposing other people to second hand smoke.

This is often accomplished by banning smoking in enclosed spaces, such as a business, perhaps in a car with other passengers present, and so on.

Answer 3

There will not be profit from cigarettes when you ban nicotine.
Then there will be less profit in private hospitals for cancer, and government hospitals for cancer as for the health insurance. :(
You will have millions of people on cold-turkey-way-to-stop-smoking (instantly).
Mark Twain said, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times."
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive -- as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, a person becomes physically and emotionally addicted to, or dependent on, nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must deal with both the physical and psychological dependence to be successful at quitting and staying quit.

I quit smoking for two months, ever since then I was trying to find a cause to start smoking again, guess what, I am smoking.

There should be a ban for cigarettes, and yes it will effect economy of one country, and yes it will effect big and small companies, family business...and as for psychological effect of suddenly quit smoking, we can have millions of two minutes angry people, eating nails, getting fat....
Maybe, if there is an injection for free against it, but no, its not so simple.
Try not to be in the presence of the people who are smoking, and let the poor people smoke their cigarettes. If you choose not to smoke, there are people who choose to smoke and can not stop.

Answer 4

When the US banned alcohol in the 1920s, it led to a huge crime wave and was a total disaster. If all the evidence for tobacco killing and harming people doesn't persuade them to give up smoking, making it illegal would simply funnel lots of money into organised crime while losing the government a valuable source of revenue. It just wouldn't work.

What might work, though, is a state tobacco monopoly like the state alcohol monopolies in some countries. That way, all the profit from tobacco could go to the government and health programmes.

Answer 5

Banning nicotine would be like prohibition. Alcohol consumption actually increased during prohibition. The best we can do is discourage it's use. We have done a pretty fair job. Smoking is down, laws are being passed to keep second hand smoke at bay and more people are quitting who were stupid enough to start in the first place (me included).

Answer 6

This country learned long ago that banning something caused a big uprising. Regardless if people like it, it is taking away a personal liberty. Even if that liberty is poisoning yourself or those around you. The government is taking another tack. Slowing raising the cost until it is just too expensive for for most people to buy it.

Less we not forget that many of our founding fathers grew and sold tobacco. If you read about American History, you will find that tobacco was a core element of the founding of this country. Today, the tobacco companies have a strong lobby and much of the pressure is political and financial. In the end, it is not about health, it is about money and power.

We could also be asking why do we allow fast food restaurants to poison us with salt and fat? While I detest smoking and would happily ban it, it is just one of the bad things people are free to enjoy... while they can afford it.

Answer 7

The same reason that alcohol isn't banned. It didn't work in the 20s, and it won't work now. Check your history. I would just get my supplies on the black market or "underground". Are you willing to pay for me to go to rehab? It's a well known fact that it's more difficult to quit smoking then to quit Crack! My grandson told me that when he got out of rehab; that's what they were told by the counselors. Why do you think when there is a prison riot that cartons of cigarettes are thrown to the inmates? It has been found that in non-smoking prisons, the prisoners are more tense and combative than in smoking prisons. Throwing cartons of cigarettes to prisoners who are rioting calms a lot of them down. I was told that by a prison employee.

Answer 8

We can't go and ban all addictive things. Addictions have as much to do with human psychology than they do with physical substances anyway. I don't like cigarettes and we do have to stand up for non-smokers rights to breathe air but I don't support an outright ban.

Answer 9

It's about $$$, that's why alcohol hasn't been banned either
The government makes huge amounts of tax revenues on both.

Answer 10

because the government makes way to much money off of the tobacco companies. the government however is reducing your risk of being exposed to second hand smoking like people who smoke can't smoke in a house with kids, and lots of restaurants and public places don't allow people to smoke..

Answer 11

cause so many people are addicted to it already, there would just be a whole market that would smuggle them. ever heard of way back when when they tried to ban alcohol? well look it up. the same thing would happen except they would be more driven to get back at the government and revolt and their addiction wouldn't be craved, hence being more driven