We have countless data proving the objective harms of smoking. We have anti-smoking ad campaigns lasting generations. We have brought civil actions against tobacco companies for hiding cancer risks and harming individuals…. why WOULDN’T the american public support a complete tobacco ban?
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Because we still have the ability to make informed decisions.
Alcohol is incredibly dangerous; so is a poor diet and also driving vehicles
We do lots of things voluntarily which involve high risks.
Since smoking doesn’t make you a danger to others there’s little reason for an outright ban
America still remembers the lessons of prohibition.
At the time an outright ban on liquor sales was actually fairly well supported and the drinking culture in the US was very different than it is today.
However the ban of liquor sales had the exact opposite effect than what was intended.
People started to drink MORE and since it was illegal the booze industry fueled organized crime.
Banning cigarettes arguably could have the same effect with smuggled and illegally grown tobacco becoming a rampant black market item. While consumption make actually increase, particularly among minors.
The same argument can be said about drugs. The War on Drugs and outright ban on drug use has done little to curb drug use in the US. If anything it’s made things far worse.
The drug trade is massive, black market drug sales are rampant and it fuels organized crime.
Canada un-banned marijuana use a few years ago. Consumption didn’t increase significantly, it was already so common place that people just started admitting to it. It created an entire new legal industry worth millions a year, and generates tons of tax revenue. Meanwhile the government runs ad campaigns warning people of the dangers of using pot.
People have a choice, it’s better they make an informed decision because if you take that choice away they’ll still do it but in a dangerous and illegal manner.
People rarely think they’re the ones who are gonna die/suffer because of it.
Added to that, there’s the separate but related reason of, these deaths are slow and gradual. They don’t catch attention like sudden deaths do.
The mundane, boring, and gradual are severely underrated–like how people will fear flying the few times in their life they do it, much more than they’ll fear driving or being in traffic daily.
People have the right to do whatever they want so long as they don’t infringe on ability of others to do the same. This is called the right to liberty. It’s one of the fundemental principles of the United States.
Myself and many other Americans believe that personal responsibility and personal freedoms are the most important human rights.
We also believe the government has no right to tell us what we can and can’t do to our own bodies.
For better or worse, having the freedom to choose to participate in activities that may harm us is less dangerous than allowing the government the power to tell us we can’t.
So you put people in prison for buying, selling, and possessing tobacco? And you think that’s a good idea?
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