Poll: Should smoking be made illegal?

[lettucethesallad]

I have a friend who's a radical straight edge kid. We had a discussion on facebook the other day on smoking, and the fact that more people in our community have started smoking. My friend is of the opinion that smoking should be made illegal and classed as a drug, and that the state should step in to essentially protect people from themselves.

Me being a libertarian, I argued that people, knowing the dangers of smoking, should choose for themselves if they want to do it or not. I was immediately stormed by an angry mob of facebookers who showed their dislike with indignified comments.

Eager to get to the bottom of this, I thought I'd ask you guys.

Tl;dr: Should smoking be made illegal?

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

Nah, If people want to kill themselves slowly, good for them. Just as long as they don't do it around me and pretend their all cool.
Heavier, and I mean heavier taxes would be good though:].

 

[SovietSecrets]

No. If smoking is banned then drinking has to be banned as well.

EDIT: Everyone who is quoting me are you all idiots or something? The bottom of this? Heres the bottom, drinking causes just as much problems as smoking. Ever hear of drunk driving, bar fights, abuse due to alcohol, poor judgement under the influence, or alcohol poisoning? Or do all of these just fly past your heads? You don't cancer right away from smoking, you get it later on. ITS THE SAME WITH DRINKING. IF SMOKING GETS BANNED THEN DRINKING SHOULD AS WELL. Fucking hell, think people think

Just to make sure everyone sees it before quoting me again.

EDIT 2: I am not saying that drinking is worse then smoking. As the second person I quoted figured it out, I was saying if one harmful thing should be banned, then the others should be too as well. I was just using alcohol as an example of that because it was the next leading cause of death due to abuse that I know of. I just didn't extend that to all things. Now can you morons finally understand? Its just me saying if one harmful thing should be banned, then the rest should too. Thank you last two people who understand somewhat at what I was getting at.

Now is everyone ok? We all good? Your asses don't hurt anymore?

 

[Eri]

No. If smoking is banned then drinking has to be banned as well.

Drinking doesn't harm your health unless you overdo it. Smoking harms you regardless of amount smoked.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Maybe smoking shouldn't be made illegal, but anyone who just happens to smoke near people who don't want to be poisoned by that crap should be shot.
That is kinda fair. Free to kill yourself that way, but start to kill others, and we finish killing you immediately.
So no, no ban, just stay the hell away from non-smokers while smoking, unless they go to you.
For those too dense to realise it, this is a joke. I'm putting in this little message now so that people can save themselves from getting told this is a joke. I would hardly want some of the people I know and care about to be shot.

 

[scorptatious]

I agree that smoking is very bad for you, but ultimately, I think it should be the choice of the individual whether or not they want to smoke.

 

[lacktheknack]

No. Imagine the black market.

However, get it out of public. I can barely breathe as is.

 

[TaboriHK]

No. I don't want the government deciding for me what unhealthy things I can and can't indulge in more than they already do. I don't care for anyone else's dumb morality crusading, either. And for the record, I'm not a smoker, nor have I ever been.

 

[AdmanUK]

Eventually in the distant future but any ban within the next 20-30 years will just lead to a huge surge in organised crime like what happened with the prohibition.

 

[deth2munkies]

No, I don't like the state telling us what we can and can't do in our free time. That said, it should be a helluva lot less socially acceptable than it is for all the harm it does.

 

[Something Amyss]

No. If smoking is banned then drinking has to be banned as well.

I don't care what people do if it doesn't harm me or others. Smoking does inherently, drinking doesn't.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Me being a liberal, I argued that people, knowing the dangers of smoking, should choose for themselves if they want to do it or not.

I hate to break it to you, but that isn't a liberal viewpoint. Liberals are responsible for all of the laws that negatively impact smokers. Your viewpoint is libertarian at best, and conservative at worst.

Also, no. Bans are stupid. Until a group of DOCTORS discusses the merits of second hand smoke (rather than the EPA, as the current studies are done by), people need to quit freaking out.

 

[Infinatex]

Tax the shit out of it! And then tax it some more! The less people smoking around me the better.

 

[SovietSecrets]

No. If smoking is banned then drinking has to be banned as well.

Drinking doesn't harm your health unless you overdo it. Smoking harms you regardless of amount smoked.

No. If smoking is banned then drinking has to be banned as well.

I don't care what people do if it doesn't harm me or others. Smoking does inherently, drinking doesn't.

Oh right I forgot, because just because drinking doesn't harm you right away(lie), its a lot worse than smoking. Keep on drinking then and end up in the same boat with cancer as a smoker. Or keep on drinking and screw up and go drive. Like smoking over time will cause issues, so will drinking.

 

[lettucethesallad]

Me being a liberal, I argued that people, knowing the dangers of smoking, should choose for themselves if they want to do it or not.

I hate to break it to you, but that isn't a liberal viewpoint. Liberals are responsible for all of the laws that negatively impact smokers. Your viewpoint is libertarian at best, and conservative at worst.

Ah, sorry. It's the same word in Swedish, I mistranslated.

 

[Eri]

[
Pretty sure alcohol harms you whether you drink a lot or a little, just like smoking.

No. Not even close. Drinking moderately is good for your health in fact.

Oh right I forgot, because just because drinking doesn't harm you right away(lie), its a lot worse than smoking. Keep on drinking then and end up in the same boat with cancer as a smoker. Or keep on drinking and screw up and go drive. Like smoking over time will cause issues, so will drinking.

I never said smoking should or shouldn't be banned, I just said that alcohol is healthier than smoking.

 

[JokerCrowe]

No. I think everyone has a personal choice to make when it comes to what substances you put in your body. I think people can smoke all they want. It'll shorten their lives, but hey; I don't want to have anything to do with someone who smokes for that very reason, so I couldn't really care less.

In fact, the only reason heroin and other heavy drugs are illegal is because they're so addictive that people would just do that all day, and they wouldn't be able to work, and that would be bad for the government.