So why isn't smoking banned yet?

[jackofwind]

Shoot him with a toxic gas grenade then. Equal harm, stand your ground and all that.

Yeah I'd like to see you try to get that defense to hold up in court.

[Jimmy Thick]

I pray to see a 100% smoke free world. There are exceptions like cars and other vehicles because people need that to survive, but smoking is a choice that can harm others and the act is not needed to survive in life.

People, in general, I believe are getting smarter about what they put in their bodies and want to live longer, I can honestly see smoking within the next 20 years becoming extinct.


Jimmy Thick-Concentration camps for smokers? Trump are you reading?

[jackofwind]

without even trying, we have wiped out countless species of animals and plants.

i'm pretty sure a concerted effort to take out tobacco plants would work just fine.

We haven't wiped out many tenacious native species like tobacco though. It's extremely hardy and can thrive in climates ranging from Mexico to Alaska. It's also not a huge plant, is self-propoagating, and can grow in understory - so good luck tromping through every single forest and swamp in North America looking for individual plants. Not to mention you'd have people deliberately planting and hiding it.

Also there's a ton of tobacco substitutes that people would smoke instead. Did you know Kinnickinnick (Arctostaphylos sp.) is a smokable hallucinogenic? That gets planted as a native PNW groundcover all over the place. Tons of plants have properties that most people are ignorant of.

As a final note, tobacco is used in nearly all Native American cultures for ceremonial purposes, and since their traditional rights are protected, (as they should be), they will always be allowed to grow tobacco.

[Wildtree]

People want to ban Tobacco because of second hand smoke, but some of the same people want to legalize weed that also has second hand smoke which is bad for you as well.

You don't have to smoke weed. You can.
Tobacco however not so much. It's always smoked, well with one single exception. But we're talking about the smokers here, not the chewing kind

Tobacco is different. So are the carcinogens when you burn both substances btw.
Tobacco carcinogens are linked to cancers, both active and passive. For weed there's no such link established.
Not that one should subject you to passive weed smoke. Nor should you do it yourself, unless you want to.

- - - Updated - - -

I haven't been arguing my policy of telling smokers to fuck off when they bother me should be government policy. But envision yourself waiting for a bus with your daughter, and some dick lights up near you, do you go up to them and say "I want to help you" and give him some leaflets on nicotine addiction?

If I had one on me, why not?
Do you think bitching and cussing would solve a thing? Especially considering you got a child with you...

[yetgdhfgh]

I pray to see a 100% smoke free world. There are exceptions like cars and other vehicles because people need that to survive, but smoking is a choice that can harm others and the act is not needed to survive in life.

People, in general, I believe are getting smarter about what they put in their bodies and want to live longer, I can honestly see smoking within the next 20 years becoming extinct.


Jimmy Thick-Concentration camps for smokers? Trump are you reading?

With the rise of vaping that could come true.

Lets be real people just want the nicotine and not the ton of tar that wrecks your lungs.

[Wildtree]

With the rise of vaping that could come true.

Lets be real people just want the nicotine and not the ton of tar that wrecks your lungs.

Vaping is seeing ever more regulation and bans too though.
Rightfully so. It's atrocious to have minors accessing nicotine products freely.
While vaping is not as toxic as tobacco, it's still not harmless.

[minteK917]

when ppl waiting on bus stop some reason allways some idiot have go middle crowd of ppl to smoke

Thankfully we have a legislation against this here.

[kail]

Second hand smoking is illegal in many places, or should be in places it's not. Smoking in your own home by yourself or with other's conset won't get banned because we have the right to be irresponsible with our bodies. This includes smoking, drinking and eating habits. Start crossing a line like banning tobacco and you open the gates on allowing government to micromanage how you live.

[boyzma]

Hell I have a better idea. Ban (again) alcohol....I'm all for it. Know how many people die at the hands of drunks or being drunk everyday? But yet still have to advertise that shit on tv....still have to condone going out and getting wasted on New years, Super Bowl Sunday, ect. How many ads on tv for cigarettes, or in magazines and such....none. No one condones smoking, but by god good ahead and encourage getting shit faced. Good thinking people...good job.

[Wildtree]

Hell I have a better idea. Ban (again) alcohol....I'm all for it. Know how many people die at the hands of drunks or being drunk everyday? But yet still have to advertise that shit on tv....still have to condone going out and getting wasted on New years, Super Bowl Sunday, ect. How many ads on tv for cigarettes, or in magazines and such....none. No one condones smoking, but by god good ahead and encourage getting shit faced. Good thinking people...good job.

Okay.. Let's ban alcohol..
Done!!!
Does that solve the tobacco problem? No?
Well then...

[zephid]

Because there are too many smokers. If smokers only represented 1-2% of the population it would have been possible to ban, but right now it's more like 15-17% of the population. You are never gonna be able to pass a law than outright bans smoking if 15% of your population are smokers.

[yetgdhfgh]

Vaping is seeing ever more regulation and bans too though.
Rightfully so. It's atrocious to have minors accessing nicotine products freely.
While vaping is not as toxic as tobacco, it's still not harmless.

Well nothing is 100 percent harmless hell even the oxygen we breath will kill us in the end http://undergroundwellness.com/oxygen-is-killing-us/

Just like alcohol its obvious children shouldnt access it and of course there should be some form of regulation regarding vaping but its much better than ciggerettes when it comes to toxins.

Like i said people will always want nicotine and vaping seems to be the best answer to giving people that and to ending smoking once and for all.

[Nnyco]

two words: tax money

[Shiny212]

You don't have to smoke weed. You can.
Tobacco however not so much. It's always smoked, well with one single exception. But we're talking about the smokers here, not the chewing kind

Tobacco is different. So are the carcinogens when you burn both substances btw.
Tobacco carcinogens are linked to cancers, both active and passive. For weed there's no such link established.
Not that one should subject you to passive weed smoke. Nor should you do it yourself, unless you want to.

- - - Updated - - -

If I had one on me, why not?
Do you think bitching and cussing would solve a thing? Especially considering you got a child with you...

you seem to think all smokers are horribly addicted and want to quit. Some want to quit and struggle, but you're ignoring the ones that actually want to smoke, that don't give a shit. Your approach doesn't work with them. And it's not as if I'd throw a tantrum and screech and shout at them, more like I'll give them a mean look and they'll move off, but if they don't what can I do? It's legal for them to spread their poison on me and those I care about, it's wrong.

- - - Updated - - -

Well nothing is 100 percent harmless hell even the oxygen we breath will kill us in the end http://undergroundwellness.com/oxygen-is-killing-us/

Just like alcohol its obvious children shouldnt access it and of course there should be some form of regulation regarding vaping but its much better than ciggerettes when it comes to toxins.

Like i said people will always want nicotine and vaping seems to be the best answer to giving people that and to ending smoking once and for all.

Vaping is in some ways worse than smoking. Because we don't know whats in many vaping products, the companies that make them have worked hard to keep the contents vague and in some cases not disclose them at all. We don't even know how harmful vaping is, but we do know it's still harmful.

[Louisa Bannon]

I despise smoking, it's just about the filthiest habit ever. I am delighted that smoking is banned in so many places, it should be banned in even more places and littering added to the list of things with which smokers should be burdened in terms of fines and public service picking up trash.

Smokers are often selfish assholes. Confirmed.

Smoking should still not be banned because I have no problem with anyone smoking in their own home. I also don't care if it kills them or costs society money in terms of healthcare, etc. I mean, I don't want to have a society where skydivers don't exist because its a dangerous activity.

[the]

It's cool if people f!ck themselves right into the ground with poor life choices, but why should others suffer the consequences of people not being able to let go of their adult pacifiers?

There are multiple reasons, the biggest being tobacco companies have a lot of money and can afford lobbyists.

In the US, the government does not pay for the health care of most people so there is not a this incentive to get government involved in order to save money on health care costs.

The link between second-hand smoke and cancer is only statistically relevant if the non-smoker lives (sleeps in the same house) with a smoker. When you're able to find studies that list cancer that is likely based on second-hand smoking and also include whether or not the person lived with a smoker, this becomes clear. Most of the studies do not list this. So when you plead to emotion about "save the children" it's only children that live with smokers, enormously reducing the emotional relevance.

The US also has a big "revenge" mentality and would rather see smokers pushed out into the cold and rain because smoke annoys them. Seeing annoying people suffer is more gratifying then reducing the annoyance in US culture.

Edit:
I saw others asking for sources about stuff, so here's a second-hand smoke report that included whether or not someone lived with a smoker.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44330/

[oakley1261]

This thread is pretty terrible. So, from what I am understanding from a few people here is that:

1. All smokers are terrible people, and it's their fault on an individual level for everyone's possible discomfort in regards to other smokers.
2. You must treat every smoker as if they are murdering babies every second they are smoking a cigarette.
3. That person there, right now. Smoking that cigarette. Yes you, stop it. Your murdering EVERYONE with cancer, and should be responsible for paying for any possible related medical bills that may or may not be related to your habit you terrible baby murdering person!

This is sad, Most of what I hear is people playing the individual for smoking, and being rude to them if they are smoking outside to get them to be polite and move. I hate to say it, but that approach is not going to work. Being polite does. Sure, some people won't give a shit but that's completely normal. Walk away from them if it bothers you, or if they are smoking someplace they shouldn't go talk to whoever is in charge. Honestly, it's not like you can't see people smoking and avoid them. Unless of course you are blind.

What you shouldn't do is glare at them, be rude to them. Or be a douche and walk by and do a "fake" cough as you do. Don't blame the individual for being addicted to something the government allows, and makes huge profits from. It's not exactly an easy habit to quit. If you have never smoked, I doubt you have any input on that part of the conversation. Unless you have been addicted to heroin, and have kicked that habit easily.

Most smokers use cigarettes not just because they are addicted. That is a side effect of using them over time. But a lot of people use them as stress relief to make their crap day a little better. Some use it as an escape. If I smoke, I have a reason to go outside and get away from work and unwind for a few minutes.

I smoke, I have quit a few times. Stress brings it back into my life. But, I'm not one of those people that smoke where I am not supposed to. I don't blow it in peoples faces. And it irritates me when people walk past me while I am smoking minding my own business away from everyone else and glare at me, or give the fake "cough". You don't know who I am. I have a family, I own a home, hold down a full time job. I provide for my family, and care for them. I don't smoke in my home. I don't smoke around my kids. If I am need a cigarette while I am with my kids, I will walk 20 feet away from them, and everyone else to have one. I go out of my way to find a location to smoke that isn't populated by a ton of people, I even save my cigarette butt for a trash can if there is not a place to put it close by. I can't help it if people decide to walk by me when I'm smoking. But when they do, I hold it in if I just took a drag, and don't blow it out until they are away from me.

The point is, don't treat people who you don't know with disdain and hate just because they do something you don't agree with or like. We are all people, and we all have our reasons. That doesn't automatically make us all bad people that should be shamed.

On the topic of this thread, even tho I am a smoker. Yes, I think it should be banned. The only reason it isn't as other people have said, is because it generates a HUGE amount of cash for the tobacco industry, and the government.

-oak

[Laerrus]

Coming from the opinion of an ex-smoker. It needs to be banned in all public places.

I don't want to smell your fucking smoke.

[urasim]

It's cool if people f!ck themselves right into the ground with poor life choices, but why should others suffer the consequences of people not being able to let go of their adult pacifiers?

When they ban alcohol consumption. When they severely punish the rich for the crimes they currently get away with. When they introduce a "fat" tax. etc etc etc

AKA never.

[GrinningMan]

My body, my choice. That's how it goes, right?