Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
"be consistent"
 
PerlMonks  

Re: Do you smoke tobacco?

by macPerl (Beadle)
on Sep 16, 2004 at 12:55 UTC ( [id://391429]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Do you smoke tobacco?

Started at 14 - quit before my first was born - managed to stay off for 3 years - been a recidivist for 4 years - every day I plan to quit.


Some thoughts :
  • What the biggest disadvantage ?
      Cash spent ? No
      Health issues ? No
      Social Leprosy ? No
      For me (having been off them for 3 years, a while back) it is the psychological effects :
      Irrational anger, Listlessness, Lack of deep concentration, Sleeplessness, etc.


  • How come Tobacco companies do not have to list all the additives in the cigarettes
    Where I live all products for sale have to display "ingredients" - for some reason the tobacco lobby is still able to circumvent this.

  • Why are Cigarettes sold outside of Pharmacies/Drug Stores
    These products are highly addictive drugs (anecdotally, more addictive than heroin) and yet I can walk into any corner shop and buy them - as can any kid on the street.
    Get this: (in this Country) you can buy cigarettes in any shop but all Smoking Cessation products are only sold through Pharmacies !

  • Why are Cigarettes sold WITHOUT prescription ?
    see above

  • As there are no Tobacco Manufacturers in the country where I live, can I bring an action against the State as they are responsible for import licenses
    Maybe this would get them off their high moral geldings and get them to develop a strategy which goes beyond the current "token gestures" (no puns please :-]) which display action on their part but still allows them to collect all the taxes from the cigarettes.

  • My plan for National No-Smoking !
    Main Aim: to STOP anyone else STARTING

    Year 1: All cigarettes to be sold ONLY by Pharmacies/Chemists

    Year 2: All cigarettes to be on prescription only
    Repeat prescriptions cannot exceed 2 packs/ day and are not valid for longer than 2 weeks.
    All prescriptions recorded centrally.

    Year 3: implement a swipe card system which allows people to buy cigarettes without prescription (but still from Pharmacies Only). "Quota" is based on historical data collated from Doctors or GPs.

    Years 5+: Reduce tax on cigarettes by 20% p.a. This is necessary to choke off the black-market which will have been created for cigarettes in the previous 5 years
  • Replies are listed 'Best First'.
    Re^2: Do you smoke tobacco?
    by tekniko (Deacon) on Sep 17, 2004 at 12:44 UTC
      Um, I don't smoke, but I respect your right to do so. You just won't do it in my house and you had better not throw your butts in my yard.

      We are losing (at least in the USA) entirely too many civil liberties to people who think it is their business to tell the rest of us how to live.

      You don't want your kids to smoke? Fine, teach them that smoking is bad for you. That's our job as parents. Government has no place in the matter.

        Hear Hear! ++ while (1);

        Too often an individual's choice, consequences, and personal responsibility are ignored as the government babysitter gets bigger and bigger. Stomp on the citizen to "save the country" some would say...

        - jbWare
          I believe it is a persons right to smoke. I also believe it is my right not to have my tax moneys support their illnesses. I belive it is the ordinary citizens right to seek compensation from smokers, that smokers should be liable for the illnesses and physical damage they cause (respiratory issues, etc.) There are other causes of respiratory illness/irritations that need the same treatment, but tobacco, fossil fuel engines and similar products are rather troublesome.

          Personal rights and freedoms as always have the restriction of stopping when they cause harm to other people.

          -digi

        Civil Liberties
        So you think it is a "civil liberty" to smoke ?

        If you were to consider deeply the historical reasons for smoking, the environment factors that cause people to smoke, the weight and effect of marketing in driving sales, I think you mightn't be so fast to throw smoking into the over-used (abused) civil liberties argument.

        I agree with and subscribe to the defense of Civil Liberties. However, it does this cause no good to water down the concept with arguments such as yours.

        An extension of the argument you put forward is to legalise all narcotics. I wish I could be sure that you would baulk at such an idea.

        Parenting
        Kids, in spite of us, thank God, are not programmable. While we all strive to help them avoid horrible pitfalls, your statement Fine, teach them that smoking is bad for you. is glib to the point of banality. Two brief points to note:

      • Studies have shown that, after the age of 11, peer pressure has a stronger influence in children than parental guidance.
      • The average TV watching child is exposed to 10,000 adverts a year.


      • Government
        I think everyone has to concede that the cigarette industry is one in which a few people (Cigarette companies) do well out of and millions (smokers - active & passive) suffer from.

        Cigarette companies spend millions every year to promote their products.

        It is the duty of government to ensure that the individuals rights are protected against such producers.

        Believe it or not, there are times government passes legislation that is not part of some major Orwellian Plot to turn us all into proles.
          An extension of the argument you put forward is to legalise all narcotics. I wish I could be sure that you would baulk at such an idea.
          Well, I do. All substances should be legally available. Who is the government to tell me what I am allowed to shoot/smoke/sniff? I'm mature and the only one who is responsible for me.

          Besides that, the criminilization of drugs leads to all the known consequences, like overcrowded jails, courts & police not able to follow important cases because of overload, etc.

          I know I am pretty alone with this opinion. In discussions with friends/family I always earn irritated glances when I say "Solving the drug problem? Legalise everything.".



          holli, /regexed monk/
    Re^2: Do you smoke tobacco?
    by holli (Abbot) on May 15, 2005 at 08:30 UTC
      Why are Cigarettes sold WITHOUT prescription ?
      For the very same reason you can go to a McDonald's/Burger King/Wendy's and buy food that is proven to be bad for health.

      The citizen is mature!


      holli, /regexed monk/

        What an asinine response.

        Since when have those products become physically addictive ? Are they injected with chemicals to increase their addictive capacity ?

        In what way do cigarettes offer nourishment to the body ?

        If you were "mature" enough to read beyond the headlines/picture captions you would see that the health hazards associated with those foods relate to the frequency which they are consumed - as opposed to the actual content of the foodstuffs.

        If I coud have forgiven your rebuttal (which I obviously couldn't) , the line "The citizen is mature" is totally inexcusably crap. I am pushing 40, married with kids, lived in many countries, educated to post-grad level, worked in snr. mgmt in corporate world, self-employment, etc., etc., etc., (blah, blah, blah) and I still am so thick/stupid/immature that (among lots of other stupid things I do/say) I smoke. The trouble is I'm representative of a lot of my peers. Let's face it we are so far down the evolutionary scale that we are kidding ourselves if we think we have any more control of our lives beyond "what's for lunch" (and even that is just a chimera of control). The citizen is worse than "immature" ... we are "so immature we actually think we are smart". The only upside to the oft-cited "global warming"/armageddon/"sky- is-falling-in" scenario is that we should obliterate any traces of our own stupidity. I am embarrassed at how embarrassed my decendants would be of me.

        Maybe we should just agree to disagree ?

          Since when have those products become physically addictive ? Are they injected with chemicals to increase their addictive capacity ?
          Did you watch Supersize me? Obviously Fastfood *is* addictive. And yes they contain substances that increase the addiction. The fact that those are not forbidden does not mean they are healthy, does it?
          you would see that the health hazards associated with those foods relate to the frequency which they are consumed.
          Exactly like cigarettes.

          To the mature part: "They" allow me to drive, and eventually kill one to many people in a single moment. So why should one not be allowed to kill himself slowly over a lifespan?


          holli, /regexed monk/

    Log In?
    Username:
    Password:

    What's my password?
    Create A New User
    Domain Nodelet?
    Node Status?
    node history
    Node Type: note [id://391429]
    help
    Chatterbox?
    and the web crawler heard nothing...

    How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
    Other Users?
    Others examining the Monastery: (5)
    As of 2024-04-19 06:46 GMT
    Sections?
    Information?
    Find Nodes?
    Leftovers?
      Voting Booth?

      No recent polls found