Should tobacco be illegal?

[Nick1911]

And, furthermore, what restrictions on it's usage should apply, if any?

Should one be allowed to smoke in a restaurant?  An often argument is that it is like "peeing in a swimming pool".  What about in your car?

General thoughts?

[Tecumseh]

Yes.  It leads to craziness.  Narcotic use is bad for the country.

[Gewehr98]

I'm watching this one really closely. 

Play nice, folks. 

[Tecumseh]

You should not be allowed to smoke in a car as it can affect the central nervous system.  And that is dangerous.  I would go so far as to suggest that nobody should be allowed to smoke and shoot as it is a dangerous combination. 

[MechAg94]

I guess you would then say that I can't drink Dr. Pepper in my truck since the caffeine and sugar make me more aggressive on the road.    Banning alcohol or smoking probably wouldn't affect me much, but banning Dr. Pepper would. 


Smoking gets into a lot of private property rights issues in my view.  I like the fact that it is restricted in public buildings like sports stadiums, but I think restricting it on private property is nonsense. 

People who are supersensitive to cigarette smoke should be required to jump through hoops to avoid smokers just as smokers are required to jump through hoops to find places to smoke. 


Should it be illegal?  No.  But the way some people talk about it, I think they would be much less hypocritical if they did push for making it illegal instead of trying to restrict and tax it away.

[Strings]

I don't mind having to jump through a couple of hoops to have a smoke: doesn't bother me all that much. If it becomes too much for me to bother with, I'll quit.

 For the record, although I smoke, our home is smoke-free (I go outside). That said...

 The moves made in so many places to ban smoking in restaurants and bars get seriously under my skin. That decision should be left to the owners and operators of said establishments.

 As far as a complete ban on smoking: yeah, because we see how well the ban on other drugs has turned out...

[Paddy]

Yes.  It's highly addictive and causes cancer, not to mention the air pollution the rest of us suffer. 

[jefnvk]

First off, if the gov't is going to et involved, it needs to go one way or the other.  Either it is bad and needs to completely go, or it is OK and bans need to be lifted.

Secondly, it shouldn't be illegal.  It should be illegal in public property where people are required to go (courthouse, etc.).  After that, no one requires you to go to a bar.  Not too many people even see going to a bar as being healthy, smoking ain't changing much.  Same thign for restaurants.  No one forces you to go.  If you choose not to, thats your decision.  If you choose not to go, and pressure the owner to make a smoke free area or go completely non-smoking, and they do, good for them.

[Paddy]

No, when I go to a restaurant, I'm entitled to unpolluted air.  Why should I have to breathe somebody else's smoke? 

BTW, the public smoking ban started right here, in the city of San Luis Obispo.   

[Tuco]

Illegal?  no.  Not allowed in public, perhaps...

The acceptability of tobacco use is decreasing, tobacco use is decreasing, and within a few generations, it will be all but gone???

The addictiveness of nicotine throws a monkeywrench in the argument for less regulation.  As does the public health concerns. 

I say allowed in the privacy of one's own space, like sex with the ole' lady.   No need to light up after a cone at the dairy queen, although sometimes I'd like to.

[Standing Wolf]

The fake science that "proves" second hand smoke is dangerous is just like the fake science that "proves" guns cause crime: despicable.

[Paddy]

In all fairness, SW, you need to disclose that you're a smoker, so your opinion may be biased.

[Regolith]

No.  If you want to kill yourself slowly, that's not my business.  The same goes to any substance you wish to put in your body, just so long as you keep the results of the usage of said substances out of the public realm.

[Dannyboy]

In all fairness, SW, you need to disclose that you're a smoker, so your opinion may be biased.

I sa
I'm not a smoker and I totally agree.  You aren't entitled to anything.  Don't like the smoke, go somewhere where this no smoke.  It's really very easy.

[Paddy]

No.  My rights as a nonsmoker trump the smoker's rights.  He's polluting MY breathing air.  If he can't control himself, the law will.

[Bigjake]

No.  My rights as a nonsmoker trump the smoker's rights.  He's polluting MY breathing air.  If he can't control himself, the law will.

Horseshit, you don't like the establishment's atmo, go somewhere else.  Smokers' rights and private property rights trump yours, you don't like it, stay out.

And no, I don't smoke either.

[Paddy]

Horseshit, you don't like the establishment's atmo, go somewhere else.  Smokers' rights and private property rights trump yours, you don't like it, stay out.

The law in many place says different.  And those laws are spreading.  You don't like it.  Too bad.  Smokers don't have the right to contaminate the air breathed by others.  How about I move next door to you and start a pig farm and burn trash 24/7?  It's my 'private property right'. 

[mtnbkr]

People should exercise the right to congregate elsewhere rather than use the force of law (and the govt's gun) to force their will on others. 

I won't eat at a restaurant where the smoke is objectionable, why do you?  Do you enjoy telling others what they can do with their property?  How very statist of you.

Chris

[Paddy]

I won't eat at a restaurant where the smoke is objectionable, why do you?  Do you enjoy telling others what they can do with their property?

Yep, when their actions affect and destroy my property, like the air I breathe.  If that's 'statist', get used to it, because there's more coming.   People can't do whatever they want when they want just because they want to do it regardless of the effect on anybody else.

[Paddy]

I won't eat at a restaurant where the smoke is objectionable, why do you? 

I don't have to because no smoking is not allowed in restaurants in California. 

[BridgeWalker]

Property rights should trump the dubious safety argument in this case.  Bans in gov't buildings? Fine.  Hospitals?  Fine.  People don't have a choice and those are heavily regulated anyway.  Daycares, schools? Fine.  Kids have less or no freedom of choice in where they are, and it is arguably more dangerous for kids.

Public places, business, restaurants, bars?  Heck, no!  If I'm "entitled" to smoke-free air, then better shut down factories, energy plants, and freeways. 

I'm an ex-smoker.  I've developed the extreme sensitivity to smoke that many ex-smokers develop.  I do have a hard time with smoke.  Life is rough sometimes.  We all start demanding that the world provide us with an optimal health environment at all times  and suddenly everything is hyper-regulated.  Oh wait, it already is.  Well, this is one more road we shouldn't go down.  We are of course, because hey, laws are *awesome* and make the world a better place.

I'm not a libertarian and I do think that gov't has a place in regulating various things.  But more laws that just say "NO!" are not useful.

[Paddy]

Property rights should trump the dubious safety argument in this case.

The property right is the right of children, the elderly, the infirm, indeed everyone to be protected against obnoxious pollution from smokers.  My body is my property.  Get it?   Don't poison my air, and don't do anything to jeapordize my health.  You can't control your addictions?  Then the law will.  Grow up.  You live in a society and there are other considerations than your own selfish desires.

[Bigjake]

The law in many place says different.  And those laws are spreading.  You don't like it.  Too bad.  Smokers don't have the right to contaminate the air breathed by others.  How about I move next door to you and start a pig farm and burn trash 24/7?  It's my 'private property right'.   
 

Wrong. Most, if not all Agricultural townships have ordinances that basically read, If the hog farm is there first, and you move in and don't like the smell, tough (pig) *expletive deleted*it.  Being a farmer, I know all about such regs.

The property right is the right of children, the elderly, the infirm, indeed everyone to be protected against obnoxious pollution from smokers.  My body is my property.  Get it?   Don't poison my air, and don't do anything to jeapordize my health.  You can't control your addictions?  Then the law will.  Grow up.  You live in a society and there are other considerations than your own selfish desires.

You're right, comrade!  The VFW or Applebee's that Allows smoking ought to be locked up, It's for the children after all  . 

You don't like the air in a given establishment, stay the hell out.

Again, this from a non smoker.

[Paddy]

Y'all best stay on the pigfarm Bigjake, because the rest of us are using government to protect individual rights.

[Regolith]

Y'all best stay on the pigfarm Bigjake, because the rest of us are using government to protect destroy individual rights.

Fixed it for you.