Poll: Should smoking be made illegal?

[Mr Montmorency]

Hey, if a moron with a lethal predisposition for addiction wants to take a puff, then it's fine by me!

Let's not fight natural selection, eh?

 

[LikeTeeth]

It would just be a mess if it was banned entirely.

But I am all for banning it in public places, I feel really sick when I smell cigarette smoke. And people aren't very considerate in where they smoke, so.

Oh yeah?

And every time you make a smoker stand out in the rain because they want a cigarette but you don't want them in the same room you're being very inconsiderate to them too (it works both ways, you are not inherantly morally superior because you choose not to smoke, and this is coming from a non-smoker).

Maybe the next time you see someone light up on a rainy day maybe you should be considerate enough to wait outside while they finish.

Oh and this. This is the shit.

I can't stand it when I'm sent outside like a naughty dog who stole a steak off the dinner table just because I smoke. Of course because I smoke no one can handle the HORRIBLE HORRIBLE DISGUSTING YUCKY smell of a cigarette.

Pssht

 

[Daniel Laeben-Rosen]

No, deffinetly not. It's a choice.
If anyone's stupid enough to start smoking, it's their choice. Speaking as one of those idiots I fully recognize it having been my own stupid idea and no-one elses.
To quote Denis Leary:
"You could put them in a big black box with a skull on them, call them TUMORS and people would STILL be lining up around the block to smoke'em! Smokers are gonna smoke."

 

[Shpongled]

No, because prohibition doesn't work. Making smoking illegal would be the same as making drinking illegal in the 20s, or making marijuana illegal. All you end up with is more crime, and more people clogging up the criminal justice system with petty offenses.

It works both ways. If it was so petty, why would they commit a crime just to do it?

That logic doesn't really work. The weed isn't petty, it's very much enjoyable. It's the criminal offense that's petty.

They happily commit a petty crime because they know the punishment of getting caught is negligible, and the chances of actually getting caught are so minimal that the reward of smoking a nice J at the end of the day is more than worth the small risk.

if you get caught, you go to jail. How is that negligible? Also just because it's enjoyable doesn't make it less petty.

The first time you get caught with marijuana you'll get a slap on the wrist and your gear confiscated.

The second time you get caught with marijuana you'll get a slap on the wrist and your gear confiscated.

The third time you get caught with marijuana you'll get......... a slap on the wrist and your gear confiscated.

Seriously, there are very few actual criminal arrests made for simple possession.

And i struggle to see how marijuana itself is in any way "petty". What does that even mean? How can a plant be petty? Smoking it is enjoyable.... still not seeing where petty comes in, help me out?

Possession is a "Petty" offence in that the offence itself is merely a misdemeanor, something very minor and generally unimportant. Speeding is a petty offence, J-walking is a petty offence, not paying parking tickets etc. No implication is made about whatever the offence itself relates too.

 

[number2301]

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.

Sorry I haven't read the full thread but wanted to jump in for the benefit of the Swede.

You used liberal in exactly the right sense, liberal means believing in freedom. I'm not sure what the issue is but it seems to be similar in the UK as in the US, people read liberal as Labour/Liberal Democrat. Not as it actually means.

 

[CleverCover]

I wish it could be so, because I'm tired of inhaling that nonsense every time I try to to buy food. If they want to kill themselves slowly sure, ok, fine. I don't want your secondhand poison.

Instead, just tax the hell out of it. At least I get something positive hopefully from their bad habit.

 

[saruman31]

Such a big kiddie community here judging by the comments of Mr Montmorency and Daniel Laeben-Rosen.
Not smoking doesn`t make you smarter.
disclaimer: i don`t smoke

p.s. why should they be taxed higher on the things they enjoy doing? Do YOU want to get taxed extra for playing video games? Its not the most healthy habit.

 

[Actual]

I'm sorry to dissapoint, I've never forced someone else to stand in the rain because they smoke. That's just rude.

Where did that even come from? Sorry, but when I'm waiting for my train, it would be very nice of the smokers not to light a cigarette in my face when there's plenty of space they can stand on and have a cigarette without forcing me to breathe in the smoke, without having to stand in the rain even.

And did I ever say I was morally superior? My dad smokes, lots of people in my class smoke - I won't ever force them to not do it, but it would be very nice of them not to do it in my face.

And for that matter, what's worse: having to breathe in toxic smoke or standing out in the rain for two minutes? I for that matter wouldn't mind standing in the rain, I think it's refreshing.

It's a misunderstanding, in England and the US too (I think) it is illegal to smoke in public buildings, this includes train platforms. This was effectively a group of "morally superior" campaigners who decided smokers were second class citizens.

As your profile says you're from Sweden you may have been totally unaware of this.

My opinion on the topic, as a non-smoker, is that it should not be illegal.

We're in a decent place where we are now, the law prevents smokers from inflicting it on other and the massive taxes help relive the burden smokers put on healthcare. Not sure how they justify this in the US where healthcare isn't free and the government just pockets the taxes.

We do need to stop the persecution of smokers, they are not second class citizens. We also need to loosen the smoking laws; a plumber should be able to smoke in his own van, a shopkeeper should be able to smoke in his own shop. Pubs should be forced to have effective smoking areas, sealed and air-conditioned separately from the non-smoking areas, so I can chill with my friends while they smoke and I drink.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I have a friend who's a radical straight edge kid.

Does he drink soda? Because the one "hardcore straight edge" guy I knew got in an argument with me one day saying that caffeine was not a drug because you couldn't die from it (which you can, yet pot won't kill you) and because he saw a picture of a guy from Minor Threat holding a Pepsi, there for that obviously proves that caffeine isn't a drug... dumbass...

Anyway, no. And, with my experience and what you posted, I'm beginning to think all "straight edge" people are complete morons, at least when it comes to drugs. Smoking, which is tobacco, already is a drug. A drug should be classified as a drug? Uhh, it already is. Back to what I was saying, no, I don't think it should be illegal. I don't think any drug should be illegal, actually. America is supposed to be "Land of the Free" (ha), so people should be free to do whatever the hell they want as long as it doesn't harm other people. And no, I don't smoke or do any of that other shit...

 

[KarumaK]

Ban smoking... *JOKER LAUGH*

We don't ban things that are profitable you just regulate them, or pretend to. We did the whole ban poisons people love in the 1920s... it made things worse.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

no, all of it should be legal, but it should be prohibited in public places and the general public. that shit smells nasty and i can NOT fucking stand it when you blow that shit in my face on campus, your not cool at all, and i dont want to die anytime soon by any stupid death sticks, so please, if you really need a god damn smoke, go to the parking lot, or go to a corner where nobody is walking.

plus make that shit legal and taxed and economy is good to go from idiots who are too addicted.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Topic done five times that I can remember.

Anti-Smokers say it's harmful and they don't like the smell.
Smokers point out the 90% tax they pay that props up the Health service, it's an addiction and it's their choice.
Anti-Smokers repeat it smells bad and some call for the death penalty.

There ya go. /thread.

It's not just that. It's that it's harmful to my health when I'm around anyone who smokes. As long as it doesn't affect me, I couldn't care less. But it does affect me, and it affects me in a negative way, so I'm against it.

 

[SFR]

Imagine Sin City without the smoking. Kinda loses some luster, doesn't it?

That is my only argument.

Good day.

 

[katsumoto03]

It should be banned in public (including outside) because it is fucking disgusting.

 

[Eri]

snip

when I say petty I mean not important, fun maybe but you won't die by not smoking weed. Like Warcraft. It Is petty and you won't die from not playing.

 

[Yosato]

The thing about smoking is that it, arguably, isn't REALLY the smoker's choice since they are addicted.

Personally, I think it should be illegal, if only because there is basically no upside to smoking. I don't think a prohibition-like situation would occur, since a lot of smokers don't even like that they smoke.

But realistically it's probably never going to be illegal.

Seriously? It's not their choice? Of course it's their choice. People choose to start smoking knowing that it's a harmful and addictive activity, and even when they're addicted it's not like they suddenly have no free will. They're not slaves to the ciggarette as much as they try and make out they are, everyone can quit smoking if they put their mind to it, people just choose not to.

OT: It shouldn't be made illegal, the public smoking ban should suffice.

 

[lettucethesallad]

I have a friend who's a radical straight edge kid.

Does he drink soda? Because the one "hardcore straight edge" guy I knew got in an argument with me one day saying that caffeine was not a drug because you couldn't die from it (which you can, yet pot won't kill you) and because he saw a picture of a guy from Minor Threat holding a Pepsi, there for that obviously proves that caffeine isn't a drug... dumbass...

Anyway, no. And, with my experience and what you posted, I'm beginning to think all "straight edge" people are complete morons, at least when it comes to drugs. Smoking, which is tobacco, already is a drug. A drug should be classified as a drug? Uhh, it already is. Back to what I was saying, no, I don't think it should be illegal. I don't think any drug should be illegal, actually. America is supposed to be "Land of the Free" (ha), so people should be free to do whatever the hell they want as long as it doesn't harm other people. And no, I don't smoke or do any of that other shit...

I've never seen him drink anything other than water. Not even tea. It's crazy.

 

[Merkavar]

does smoking give someone a benefit? not that i know of. it calms you down if your stressed etc but doesnt that only work if you are a smoker and have developed an addiction to it?

i think smoking cigarettes is one of the stupidest things people can do. its heaps expensive, bad for your health in a big way and doesnt appear to have any benefits to me.

most people i know smoke because it was cool when they were younger and forced them selves to do it so they were cool. now they are still smoking.