ban smoking outright. Smokers are obviously unable to control themselves, so lets take the problem out of their hands, and ban the things. problem solved:)
So do it.
Until then it's a legal product.
Unfortunately for you in the name of getting people to quit govts have taxed it to such an extent and tied the monies to ongoing budgets which have nothing to with smoking, like roads and schools, that it is now impossible for them to eliminate it.
I like that the government wants to deter smoking, but making us rely on the tax coming from it was not a smart move.
The best plan now is for govt to encourage smoking and lift all bans. Not only will this raise revenue but lower life expectancy which can help save social security!
In short, not only get used to it, but embrace it as a positive.
That has got to be one of the most insensitive, vile, and downright ignorant things I've heard in a while. Sure, revenue and social security is all well and good, but at what cost? You're just about as bad as the assholes who run these companies. Who cares about whose big brother or sister gets addicted to the [censored]? Who cares whose mom or dad gets killed? Who cares about the little boy or girl in tears when they see grandma or grandpa being put in the back of an ambulance, not knowing if they'll ever see or hear from him/her again? Hey kiddo, hey sweetie, I'm sorry that your <relative> is dead, but look at the bright side; at least we're saving money!
You really make me sick.
kermit, I'm all for your suggestion, to be quite honest. It flat out disgusts me that Marlboro and other corporations are allowed to make money off of the suffering of others. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the industry brings in too much money, so I don't see the government putting a foot down anytime soon, which really is sad.
Just goes to show you what foul creatures us humans can be. I really have to wonder how the government can let us take advantage of other people like that and still have a clear conscience. Hell, I'd love to know how the executives of the tobacco companies sell their crap, get innocent people hooked on it, and still sleep at night.
I can only hope and pray that one day, this stuff does get banned. I'm aware of the black markets and the like, but at least it'll be that much harder to obtain if the companies/manufacturers are shut down.
I like that the government wants to deter smoking, but making us rely on the tax coming from it was not a smart move.
Yes, what a lovely concept that would be: A government banning smoking because it knows that smoking kills people. But since so much tax money comes from cigarettes, it's very unlikely to ever happen unless the government begins to gather that money from a different source. :(
The best plan now is for govt to encourage smoking and lift all bans. Not only will this raise revenue but lower life expectancy which can help save social security!
In short, not only get used to it, but embrace it as a positive.
I agree with everything MrMedic said to you here. I do not think you would say things like that if you knew someone close to you who died from one of those terrible diseases you can get from smoking.
I really hope you don't know how evil you sounded. Does what you say make sense logically? Certainly. The world is so over populated as it is, cigarette purchases give us tax money, and it does help lower life expectancy which can help save social security. But as MrMedic said, at what cost? The kind of thinking you just demonstrated is evil, plain and simple. You are looking at the lives of people like they are just statistics. People are not statistics, so do not treat them so.
I am a smoker. I smoke almost 2 cigarettes a day. I don't allow smoking in my house -- I smoke outside -- and I agree with ALL smoking bans. I do not allow it in my house because I have 5 cats and a dog, and a husband, and I will NOT subject them to secondhand smoke. Period. Hubby is a 1/2 pack a day smoker and even he will not smoke inside.
When we go out to eat, we ask for a smoke-free place.
It is incredibly asinine to smoke around people in a restaurant or bar. Anyone who demands to smoke is killing others with second-hand smoke.
Assholes.
Purrs,
Pookie
I am a smoker also. I do not allow smoking in my home either and that is my choice. However, I have a problem with gov't controls on personal choice whether they be good or bad. Last I checked we were all adults with thinking minds (mostly) ,able to face our own mistakes and can be inspired to make better choices in the future. Being mainly conservative you would think I am anti-abortion, but I am not. It is a personal choice and imo Roe v Wade should stand. (I only mention abortion as an example of my beliefs, not to go off topic here.)
My beef with the smoking bans is not because I am a smoker, but because it is the foot in the door that will lead to more intrusive legislation, ie: transfats and limitations on food choices in public schools, cell phone bans etc.... Such is the case of B Clinton banning smoking in the White House which opened the precedent-setting flood gates for the present laws.
Why not choose to go to a non-smoking establishment. Why not leave it in the capable hands of private business to decide who they will cater their respective businesses to? As I have exampled in another thread on this topic, it's like going to KFC and ordering steak and getting pissed because they sell chicken. It is as simple as that. Noone is forcing a righteous nonny to remain in a place which offends them. You have the free choice to leave and choose to take your business to a place that suits you. At least for now.
Smoking bans are not private though...they involve public places. I don't consider banning public smoking in any way invasive. I think it's incredibly invasive if I am forced to sit in a place to eat or drink...or heck stand there and smell someone smoking. It's a health risk and it's serious.
Smokers for the most part (as most people) don't like being inconvenienced. However why should non-smokers be placed in harms way for a smokers fix?
Scenario: I own a business. I do not allow smoking in my place. A smoker throws a hissy fit and laws get changed and I am forced to abide by them or get shut down and fined. My business fails due to lost revenue and I now file bankruptcy and a piece of the much needed tax base no longer exists.
Don't get me wrong there should be common sense rules and boundaries that fit in with each different scenario, not a blanket law that invades one's overall, individual personal choice. Why do you feel as if you are "forced to remain in place where there is smoking such as a bar? You should know it going in and if not that's your fault, not the smokers'. Therefore, you have then unfairly imposed your own naivete' upon another individual. If it's a hospital, sports arena, or other such public place I wholeheartedly agree and would respectfully comply.
I also question the integrity of this imposed legislation. Being from the Chicago, IL area where there is now a state wide smoking ban, some legislators have seen fit to sell businesses permits so long as they have installed an approved ventilation system. That very ventilation system has as one of it's investors the very same person who has now proposed the use permits mostly for IL casinos and bars of which there is also a relationship. This is a huge red flag for what is to come from big brother and sooner than we think.
Scenario: I own a business. I do not allow smoking in my place. A smoker throws a hissy fit and laws get changed and I am forced to abide by them or get shut down and fined. My business fails due to lost revenue and I now file bankruptcy and a piece of the much needed tax base no longer exists.
And yet the scenario you just made up is exactly opposite of reality.
Non-smokers are winning legal battles and the promotional public campaign as well. Every major city that has imposed smoking bans has INCREASED revenue for restaurants and even bars. NY and LA are just 2 examples. I live in Vegas...it's a recent law for no smoking in bars that serve food. Immediately people get pissed but within a couple years the bars will make even MORE money. It's reality.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...sec=health
Long term results are very positive.
I can tell you with complete sincerity such is not the case in my community. I reside in a town of 12,500. We are already struggling to keep up financially and keep businesses from leaving and this ordinance has not benefitted our community one iota. Since the ban went into effect Jan. of this year, we have lost 9 businesses due to loss of revenue. Peeps don't spend much extra time at the bar or linger to purchase an after cig dessert and coffee. So we are now faced with a tax increase to make up the difference; something which also affects the nonnys'. Maybe turn about is fair play afterall. Perhaps time will tell if that won't be the case, but as of now I am not too confident that will happen. BTW there were already non-smoking establishments in existance and I frequented both as did many others.
The existing reality of a blanket, one size fits all smoking ban in a privately owned business verges on the destruction of a free society. I have no problem with a smoking ban per se', but it is desperate need of practical logic.......... at no additional monetary cost I might add.
^^^^^
Post Script: A tax of 90cents a pack went into effect here in IL. yesterday.
You can't go into most businesses without clothes too. You can't [censored] on the middle of the floor either. At what point does "personal freedom" become public nuisance? Smoking is a public nuisance and even worse than nudity it's a health risk.
The economy is weak anyways...you can't for certain blame the smoking ban for 9 businesses folding. Also almost all data shows that immediately after the ban places take a hit but within 2 years revenue increases. One problem of small towns is that people might be inclined to drive to a close (10-30 minutes?) town that doesn't have the ban. With large cities people in general don't have that option. Maybe having the ban statewide would be best.
Eventually the smoking bans will be all over the USA for various places and reasons. Workplaces, restaurants, and even bars. It won't be stopped because the solid momentum is there. Few want to defend smoking as a personal freedom when in reality it's a public health risk.