Re^3: Do you smoke tobacco?

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.

Comment on Re^3: Do you smoke tobacco?

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Re^4: Do you smoke tobacco? by holli (Abbot) on May 15, 2005 at 08:38 UTC
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/	[reply]
Re^5: Do you smoke tobacco? by macPerl (Beadle) on May 23, 2005 at 14:00 UTC
lol ooops Just reponded to an earlier post without spotting this was here too! If I had seen this first, I wouldn't have responded to either Now I've waste both our time but responding to both! Sorry!	[reply]
Re^6: Do you smoke tobacco? by holli (Abbot) on May 23, 2005 at 14:20 UTC
You miss the fact that all attempts where narcotics were legalized, under medical control, actually lead to a drop of the number of addicted persons. I do not mean that everything should be allowed to be sold on the streets. Pure repression does not help at all! Sorry if this wasn't clear. holli, /regexed monk/	[reply] [d/l]