Should cigarettes be banned?

[acronym]

Notice, i didnt say tobacco products-the reason for this, is to be inclusive of the various crap posing as quitting aids etc, and the fact chewing the stuff oughtta be repulsive to all but a truly tiny minority.
Baseball players, mainly.

Roll your owns, also gone, if you want to get nicotine, they have filters to banish tar/smoke, oddly, banned for sale in many places due to use by health conscious marijuana smokers.

Go figure.

While im on the topic, how about tens of thousands of places for nicotine addicts in recovery, or for that matter recovery from any drug, WITHOUT compulsory medication as an option?
Who do they think they are kidding, compulsory meds are a FRAUD.

It will never happen, due to the stranglehold of big pharma, but gee its a nice thought.

 

[nutmeg]

When the Nazis came for the smokers,
I remained silent;
I was not a smoker.

When they fired the politically incorrect,
I remained silent;
I was not politically incorrect.

When they came for the obese,
I did not speak out;
I was not obese.

When they came for the Big Pharma,
I remained silent;
I don't take meds.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

---------------------------

I am a smoker. Count me out in the opinion dept on this issue. The social engineers created 2nd class citizens in a few short years. Health issues aside, I'm am appalled at how this entire issue was orchestrated on fellow Americans.

It was a license to be rude to complete strangers, not just rude but angry.

This world is a much better place with a smoke free Abrahams tank, or a smoke free military. Don't ya think?

 

[nutmeg]

I was going to chaperone a 7th grade class on a field trip. I asked if I would be able to smoke (take a break in designated area), The bitch basically said I shouldn't smoke anywhere "for the childrens sake". she can kiss my ass.

On the 11th grade field trip, that I chaperoned, I told my daughter gather up all the kids in your class that smoke and this will be our group. We had a nice time, we spent about 1 hour in the museum and went and spent the rest of the day in Central Park - we'll smoke and eat ice cream and hot dogs and have a pleasant time. We did, too.

At the senior prom, the school officials searched every single student, took cigs and lighters. Many of the kids were 18, they did not return the lighters or cigarettes. When I asked if they searched the "adult" chaperones, the bitch said no. When I asked why not, she had no answer.

 

[Thunderdog]

I was raised on second hand smoke. I detest all things tobacco. Although I am presently very healthy, I nevertheless have slight lower lobe lung damage consistent with a fair amount of exposure to second hand smoke. MY health has been compromised because of someone ELSE's habit.

If people want to smoke, then let them do so under two conditions. First, they should not fuck with anyone else's lungs while succumbing to their own filthy habit. Second, no health insurance for those who are expressly doing their level best to give themselves cancer in a casual environment. Just my opinion, of course.

 

[maxpi]

I suppose feeding cyanide to people is banned pretty much, tobacco should go the same route..

 

[armoured saint]

smoking indoor public should be banned. should all smoking be banned? the answer lies here: should the obese be banned from all restaurants or just buffets?

 

[Optionspoet]

Quote from armoured saint:

smoking indoor public should be banned. should all smoking be banned? the answer lies here: should the obese be banned from all restaurants or just buffets?

Just buffets...

 

[Thunderdog]

Quote from Optionspoet:

Just buffets...

Good answer.

All kidding aside, comparing food to tobacco is a false argument. Although some foods are more healthful than others, the body needs food to survive. Tobacco, on the other hand, provides absolutely no physiologic benefit (aside from providing a "fix"). It is poison, plain and simple. If used exactly as intended, it will induce a shorter life than the smoker would otherwise have had, but not without a generally disproportionate amount of medical care beforehand. True, it is unhealthy to eat some or most foods in excess. However, there is no healthful level of tobacco consumption. Sure, people should be allowed to smoke if they want to, but it should be illegal for them to impose their own death wish onto others. And anyone who intentionally and proactively consumes something that can only harm the body should not be entitled to health insurance. Of course, that can't be done in one fell swoop, but I really think it would be appropriate to have a graduated program along those lines. Smokers are a pain in the ass to everyone around them and to the health care system.

EDIT: Okay, the no healthcare part is a bit extreme, but smokers evidently need to be motivated with a bigger stick. I don't mean to personally offend the smokers out there, but even you guys will agree that there are few things as stupid as smoking...right?

 

[Spydertrader]

Quote from Thunderdog:

Smokers are a pain in the ass to everyone around them and to the health care system.

Obesity represents a far greater risk to the healthcare system in the USA than smokers due. Simply by sheer numbers alone. Yet our government, the ever vigilant watchdog of morality, has decided Marloboro = 'bad' for us, but Big Mac and Whopper = 'good' for us.

While the human body does require food for survival, it does not require high fructose corn syrup. In addition, besides using 'manufactured' sweeteners many companies now use 'additives' designed specifically to create a 'craving' for the specific food. One might choose to see this as food companies borrowing a page from the tobacco company play book.

Clearly my rights end where the rights of others begin, but if anyone wants to complain about health insurance costs rising due to smokers, then they should plan on lumping the far greater numbers of obese Americans into a similar catagory. Unfortunately, Joe Camel finds himself banned, but Ronald McDonald continues to peddle 'Happy Meals' to millions of overweight children while the government gives the 'thumbs up.'

- Spydertrader

 

[armoured saint]

do people have a right to smoke, i think they do. do you have a right to eat a double cheeseburger & fires, i think you do. both harm your health, but that's YOUR choice. (no nutritive value to speak of in cheeseburgers and fries). If *I* were the Czar of public health you'd be eating salad bars EVERY DAY

However, You have the right to choose.. unless it becomes a public health or safety issue. then your right may be usurped by the state for the greater good