Smoking and Drinking... Still legal...

We all know that smoking and drinking are terrible for everyone in the society. They cause harm to the users and the people around the users.

I think the citizens should do something to unlegalize these activities. These have been going on for too long without any moderation.

What are your thoughts?

 

Absolutely not.

 

Why not??
.

 

There are a number of reasons. We've tried this before with Prohibition -- it hardly lowers the numbers of people drinking, it wastes government and police resources, it hurts the economy, and it elevates the power of gangs and black markets.

Watch that Milton Friedman video in the legalization of marijuana thread. That video single handedly convinced me that the legalization of marijuana would be the correct move.

 

Smoking and drinking should be banned on public places only but i think that it's OK to let anyone to decide for her/himself...

 

I still disagree. I'm opposed to most forms of the expansion of federal government's power.

 

Participating in activities that involve self-harm should hardly be illegal. They're not very smart and probably shouldn't be practiced by personal preference, but if it your preference to do so than the law should not have any right to restrict you in that regard. If you want to cut yourself, fine, go ahead, do it. If you want to drink and destroy your own liver or smoke and get lung cancer, fine, that is your prerogative. It is only when these activities begin to hurt other people that they become truly wrong and that's why we have laws regarding drunk driving and disorderly conduct. I'm not sure what legislation may or may not exist that pertains to secondhand smoke, but if there isn't one I'd be all for it. Actually outlawing drinking and smoking, though, would be a very bad idea.

Don't forget that Nicotine and alcohol are both addictive - laws that prohibit drinking don't take into account the fact that people who are addicted will get cravings that would influence them to commit what would then be crimes in order to obtain what their bodies need. You can offer all the rehab in the world for people who would then be guilty of Nicotine or alcohol-related crimes, but there's no way you'd catch all of them and you'd simply be increasing crime rates. Let people drink and smoke, so long as they're not harming other people with it, and once they start to harm others, arrest them. Attempts at preventive laws would most likely go too far and just create newer, bigger problems. Seriously, read about what Prohibition did to America the first time around - it'd probably be a whole lot worse this time.

Don't get me wrong, I hate alcohol on a personal level. I'm a teetotaller, have been my whole life and plan to remain so for the rest of it. I detest the drinking of alcohol and I wish that it would stop, but realistically there's no good way to eliminate it. For now, donate money to MADD, SADD, rehab centers, and Temperance Awareness groups out there that spread information on why alcohol and alcoholism is bad. If you can get the alcohol and Nicotine culture in America to slow down you might have an argument for banning the two. Until then you'd just be messing things up even worse.

 

I think we can do a better job of prohibiting cigs and alcohol this time, but I do agree with you that people will smoke and drink illegally.

 

"I think we can do a better job of prohibiting cigs and alcohol this time, but I do agree with you that people will smoke and drink illegally."

Ya, this time for sure! ... it will be better, we have it all figured out!

With high taxes on tobacco, there is a thriving underground market!
What do you expect with total prohibition?

Society has a PROBLEM! In an ideal world, one could expect to walk into a pharmacy and buy a gram of COKE and pay cash and walk away and NOBODY has a problem with it. However, its a lot more complicated than that.

Right now, as a society, we are so up-tight that we can not even grow industrial hemp (ooooh, somebody may get stoned .... oops!)
WHAT A CROCK!

Huston
we have a problem........

 

Agreed Prohibition dint work wit booze its currently not working with hemp and marijuana, and it wouldnt work with tobacco either

 

We tried Prohibition once, and it failed miserably. Drinking and smoking are not positive, and I don't encourage anyone to start drinking or smoking, but I know I don't have the right to use force to restrict the peaceful behavior of other people.

I like the truth out commercials against smoking. We need more of that. Use persuasion to expose the health risks of smoking (and drinking) and the deception used to promote them.

But I am opposed to any government regulation of a peaceful activity. We are all self-owners, and we're all responsible for our own actions. Some people will do stupid things to their body that you don't agree with - but if they're not infringing on your rights, then you have no right to send the "guns of government" after them.

Second hand smoke and driving under the influence are obviously areas that pose a threat to others, so at that point there is an infringement of rights and I would support measures that protect the rights of other people in those situations.

But if someone is smoking or drinking or smoking pot in their home, then it's none of your business.

 

No one just smokes cigs or pots or drinks in their homes alone. They usually do it with someone else and they tend to go outside and cause trouble for everyone.

 

A better job? Okay, you've admitted that people will still do it illegally. By better job I'm assuming that you mean we'll do a better job of policing those now-illegal activities. One word: escalation. We get better, they get better. They make their money and can contribute most of their time, effort, and resources to improving their ability to disseminate illegal materials; the government that we expect to stop them is already stretched extremely thin trying to deal with other things. We'd do a lousy job at prohibition in this day and age.

 

that is a broad general statement that bears little truth..it is what is known as opinion.your welcomed to it,but let it be known you are simply wrong in your assumptions...I smoke pot every day and have for over 30 years I RARELY go out afterwards and NEVER cause trouble for anyone else this is just wrong,on so many levels....as i say i almost NEVER go out after smoking.I dont ALWAYS have someone to smoke with. may i ask how old you are ? you views on prohibition seem limited,and i suspect it is because you are younger. just curious

 

And how would you know about it if they were just smoking cigarettes or drinking in their homes? Looking through the news you'll find headlines like "Drunk Driver Hits and Kills 8-Year-Old Girl On Tricycle" but never "Man Drinks Socially At Home While Eating Dinner And Then Goes To Bed." Which of those do you suppose happens more often?