+538 Prevention is better then cure, so why dont they just ban smoking altogether in most places, amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Because we are supposed to be free to make our own choices, regardless of the consequences to ourselves. Yes, smoking is bad - but if I choose to smoke, then I accept the consequences. By outlawing everything that is bad or dangerous for us we fail to learn how to accept responsibility, and begin to think that we are not accountable for our actions. "Your honor, it's not my fault, the sign didn't warn me that if I put hot coffee between my legs it would burn me." Think about it - we're heading towards George Orwell's 1984 nightmare.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Smoking is banned in some places?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It's because they're not actually trying to cure anything, it makes too much money for them - most of the money from cigarette sales goes to them. They want to feign concern so we'll think they're trying to do something to help people, but banning smoking indoors is only going to make most of them move outside. It may make a small percentage end up quitting or smoking less, but not enough to really make an impact on numbers.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

because thats an enormous infringement of our rights

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Cause that worked SO well when they tried to make alcohol illegal.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

i was gonna say that. the more illicit something is, the more appealing it is.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

because it is our right. prohibition, anyone? see how much better that made things?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

where are the people who defend this? obviously people agree....

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Where are my rights to keep my lungs clean and clear of your tar? I think my rights to a healthy body trump your rights to "look cool", or fix the nicotine jitters you gave yourself in the first place.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Is that the defense you were looking for?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

cigarrete companies AND lung cancer specialists really like the money... that's why

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Since smoking indoors affects not only the smoker, but also everyone they're around, banning smoking indoors in all places is a good idea. I respect someone's right to smoke, but I also respect my right (and everyone else's right) to clean air. It's your choice to smoke, but if you're around people who don't want to inhale the poison of secondhand, put it out or go outside.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Because we have rights. I don't like smoking because my grandma got cancer, but people should be allowed. Not indoors or in public places, where others are at risk, but at certain bars or in homes. The government should stop trying to control our lives. Cigarettes should have a bit more taxes, just like alcohol, because some states [coughNYcough] have absolutely no money and families and family-oriented foods and games will have more taxes.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

As Duh said in relation to alcohol, if you ban smoking than it will become a huge black market, fostering the growth of criminals - much like how prohibition skyrocketed the career of Al Capone. Additionally, if the owner of a bar chooses to make their establishment smoker friendly, that should be their right - if they want the business of non-smokers, than THEY should adjust accordingly, not because the government told them to, but because they CHOOSE to. The more the government tells us what we can and cannot do, the more we lose our Free Choice in life. “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

by Anonymous 13 years ago

omg, we can start a debating team hereee. love ya guys. (:

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, the whole no smoking in public buildings thing is fine, but don't outlaw it completely.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

im a neutral naturally in this debate, but if based on the logic stated above that prevention is better than cure, avoiding the consequences comes first, amirite? now dont get emotional, just give your views guys. ;D

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Avoiding the consequenses to a point of course, which is why we need to actually educate. Idiotic warnings on a pack of cigarettes such as "smoking is addictive" spark only a round of laughter, but a true in depth education showing the process of the damage and what it leads to later in life is a better way to go. Over winter break I went to Body Works 2 in the Franklin Museum where they had a normal lung, a smoker's lung, and a coal miner's lung on display. In addition to the visual comparisons made availible by the donated lungs, they hade a video playing of smokers that were later affected by cancer and they all talked about how they wish they had made the descision not to smoke. But, as we all know, if something is banned, the normal human response is to flock to it to see why it was banned. Heck, books on the banned book list tend to be among the most popular, purely due to them being banned in the first place.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Human rights are a part of it, but the government produces revenues from the taxes on cigarettes. If they ban cigarettes, they would have to find another source to get those revenues from...you.

by Anonymous 13 years ago