Why can't we make smoking illegal?

D_Smidley Smelliepits

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Don't really get the idea of banning cigarettes... I'm a smoker and love smoking! Yes, I know it will kill me at some point, but at least it's me who decides, not anybody else. Btw, I only smoke at home or in the street, open-air areas, etc. so it doesn't really affect anybody else.

If I misunderstood any part of the thread, please correct me, but I'm against that kind of government policy. That's a very paternalistic conception of its role...
 

rob_

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Oh please, they make a profit from current users, it's not like cannabis that has a noticeable effect on the mind. Drugs are fun, cigarettes don't do anything that taking a deep breath of air does'nt do.

Then why don't you quit smoking and just breath extra heavily? :biggrin1:
 

mitchymo

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I think the taxes should be high enough that it really hurts the wallet to smoke.

This is already the case for me and it does'nt work.

It creates a cycle where the stress caused by financial hardship drives you quicker to the packet. It's no coincidence that the smoking rates are highest in poorer communities.

I get so annoyed that people treat this ADDICTION so flippantly, it's not a simple case of if you want to quit you will, the cost is not the dominant factor, it's stress and it's so hard to do.

If the government banned it then it would be like being forced cold turkey like in drug rehabs or if it was dirt cheap to smoke then the easing of financial stress might help with the attempt to quit.
 

DaveyR

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if it was dirt cheap to smoke then the easing of financial stress might help with the attempt to quit.

Well I pay €1.10 a packet here and it does not help in any way to stop. In fact more people smoke here than anywhere I have lived so that probably makes it more difficult.
 

lucky8

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Oh please, they make a profit from current users, it's not like cannabis that has a noticeable effect on the mind. Drugs are fun, cigarettes don't do anything that taking a deep breath of air does'nt do. If it was illegal then it would have as much attraction as snuff now does. Very very little and would'nt be worth a criminals time.

Nicotine addiction is comparable to heroin addiction on a scale of how hard it is to quit. 1/3 of US adults smoke...you're telling me there wouldn't be a market for tax exempt cigarettes due to prohibition? That's irrational
 

mitchymo

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It might seem wrong to ban smoking i know but i can't help feeling that there is a double standard going on. It was ok to create a public places ban for the health of non-smokers but yet it would be wrong to have a blanket ban when half of all smokers would likely support it?
 

mitchymo

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Nicotine addiction is comparable to heroin addiction on a scale of how hard it is to quit. 1/3 of US adults smoke...you're telling me there wouldn't be a market for tax exempt cigarettes due to prohibition? That's irrational

I'm not saying there would'nt absolutely, what i am saying is that it would be a lot less profitable than makes it worth it and certainly unsustainable for the reasons i gave, it offers nothing of substance to a new user. The most common reason anyone ever starts is because peers or family did it not because it makes you feel ecstatic.
 

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It might seem wrong to ban smoking i know but i can't help feeling that there is a double standard going on. It was ok to create a public places ban for the health of non-smokers but yet it would be wrong to have a blanket ban when half of all smokers would likely support it?

What makes you think that half of all smokers would support it? I know I wouldn't even if I succeed in stopping.
 

rob_

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but yet it would be wrong to have a blanket ban when half of all smokers would likely support it?

The truth is that most people who smoke want to quit. But most of those people wouldn't if given the opportunity.

It's just something you say to justify that you know it's unhealthy.
 

mitchymo

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What makes you think that half of all smokers would support it? I know I wouldn't even if I succeed in stopping.

An NHS poll gave a result of 53%. Ok so it was just one poll. I know i would support it and i know a workmate who smokes who would like to quit too and thinks its a good idea.
 

denton85

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If things were to make sense in the universe ... negating culture, society, and human instinct....

then yes, cigarettes and even alcohol should be illegal... we all know how well banning alcohol went. But these items are extremely damaging to the body. Or to others after intoxicated from drinking.... or smoking is dangerous for people who are around a smoker who hasn't had a smoke in a while lol

The government cant successfully ban any other drugs. I mean think about it, pretty much everyone can think of a person who we know that can either get us, or know somebody to get some illegal drugs.... make cigarette illegal, and u give millions of people (and money) to these illegal groups that sell drugs... And make more groups that will sell cigarette and will probably sell other durgs too illegally. this will further their operation by making a giant flow of money to them. so why bother failing at getting rid of one of the drugs of the masses. The government Might as well collect from the money river themselves...
 

mitchymo

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ok i agree, banning it would be wrong :frown1:

I'm just gonna have to get a distraction, maybe some ying-yang balls to occupy my hands and relaxation tapes to occupy my mind
 

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An NHS poll gave a result of 53%. Ok so it was just one poll. I know i would support it and i know a workmate who smokes who would like to quit too and thinks its a good idea.

OK fair enough. Let me ask you a question. If you were one of those smokers who had no ill effects from it, could easily afford it and enjoyed it would you not be up in arms at others suggestions to ban it?
 

rob_

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But isn't it like asking your dad to take the ball off your hands because you can't stop playing and him taking the ball off the rest of the children?

Sorry for such a crap analogy:wink:

It wasn't the best analogy ever, but it made a lot of sense.
 

mitchymo

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OK fair enough. Let me ask you a question. If you were one of those smokers who had no ill effects from it, could easily afford it and enjoyed it would you not be up in arms at others suggestions to ban it?

Probably not happy initially, when they first recommende a public ban it bothered me but not for long because it is of a benefit.
 

mitchymo

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If you want to smoke, smoke...If you want to quit, quit...wtf...you really need a law to make your decisions for you, come on bro you are better than that. Discipline my man discipline.

But i have NO willpower :rolleyes:

I know what line is coming next:- "excuses, excuses" yea i know :rolleyes:
 

Onslow

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I am fed up with the way in which government is spending shed loads of money on anti-smoking campaigns. Why can't they just make it illegal?

I AM a smoker and i have been trying to quit for the past two years. I know plenty of people who have given up with great ease but for me i just find it so difficult. I want to quit and over half of all smokers do so surely if we had a vote on it there would be no worthy reason not to ban it completely.

If i had a craving it won't matter then how weak my willpower is or how stressed i got because i would'nt be able to get any. Guaranteed success!
Revenues tax money funds a lot of things.

Making it illegal wouldn't mattere anyway since tobacco will still be grown. Proof that making it illegal doesn't work can be found in the failed attempt known Prohibition.

mitchymo if you really want to quit then you can iit's up to you. I gave up both booze and drugs because I didn;t like what they were doing to me and the control they had on me.