End of Smoking?
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Yeah, read that one this morning. Not sure how much further the pendulum can swing before the serious pushback starts to happen. Outright prohibition simply doesn't work, and forcing smoking totally underground simply means that the already extant black market will just get bigger...
Interesting article. I don't see smoking being eliminated anytime during my lifetime. I feel the government is making far too much money off the taxes. Sure they preach that it is in the name of health and for the children, but are they just going to let the bill ions of dollars generated from tobacco disappear? I think not.
I guess worse case scenario would be they do ban tobacco, and have to tax the next thing that is deemed "bad for you" to make up for the lost revenue.
I guess worse case scenario would be they do ban tobacco, and have to tax the next thing that is deemed "bad for you" to make up for the lost revenue.
—Polls show that cigarette smoking is no longer considered normal behavior, and is now less popular among teens than marijuana.
This always makes me laugh. Now marijuana is ok....what a bassakwards society we live in.
This always makes me laugh. Now marijuana is ok....what a bassakwards society we live in.
"The power of tobacco companies..." Yeah, right, like tobacco companies have the power of taxation and legislation and enforcement from the muzzle of a gun. The only power tobacco companies have is derived from our desire to use it. It's government that stands in the way of that and government holds all the cards. It seems clear who and what we need to disempower! Collect THAT data, NSA! :nana:
Which is why I was a little startled to find out how much propaganda regarding smoking in general I'd absorbed without really thinking about it when I was researching pipe smoking a year ago... I'd long since realized that much of the hoopla surrounding marijuana was scaremongering (remember "Reefer Madness"?), and began to suspect that some of the same hyperbole surrounded the issue of secondhand smoke (among other things).
But yeah - the fact that marijuana's now being legalized is one reason I say that the smoking/anti-smoking pendulum can only swing so far before people start to wonder what all the fuss is about and start thinking for themselves about what they choose to do on their own time... :D
Let them try alcohol again, the Five Families have been on the ropes for years, an alcohol and tobacco prohibition would give them another 100 years at least.
I fail to see how these do gooders, most of whom are of the political ilk that support the legalization of pot, can be so opposed to tobacco. Is there any logic? Anyone with a half a brain cell knows lighting up any plant material and inhaling the smoke is more dangerous than breathing in the air. If you decide to do it, its your life you are risking. The hypocrisy is far beyond what a rational being can comprehend.
"Oh no I only smoke maple leaves, it's like from the earth, ya know? I'd like never smoke an oak leaf, that's bad for your health
I fail to see how these do gooders, most of whom are of the political ilk that support the legalization of pot, can be so opposed to tobacco. Is there any logic? Anyone with a half a brain cell knows lighting up any plant material and inhaling the smoke is more dangerous than breathing in the air. If you decide to do it, its your life you are risking. The hypocrisy is far beyond what a rational being can comprehend.
"Oh no I only smoke maple leaves, it's like from the earth, ya know? I'd like never smoke an oak leaf, that's bad for your health
- ....and the children's too man."
Well, the strategy is to reduce the smoking percentage of the population to an amount, that the remaining smokers will not have enough power to fight a legislation to prohibit tobacco. This could be 10% or 6%, but this calculation is for sure already been done. But there is a catch to it. The tax money, that is lost, has to come from somewhere else. Maybe from other drugs, but who knows. It could be e-cigarettes. Currently they are not taxed, but this could change very quickly. I think, it is clear, that the projected path is to stop tobacco usage altogether and they could be successful with it in around 15-20 years.
The difference to pot is, that you can't smoke pot all day and still live a normal life, as much as you can't drink all day, but you can easily smoke 3 packs a day and have no mental influence. Of course, there will be pot abusers, who will be stoned all day, like there are people who are drunk most of their wake time, but this is only a tiny percentage and eventually they will end up in a clinic or on the streets. Anyway, a certain lethargy makes it even easier for the government to guide the sheep. If you leave reality for a dream world, you don't really care for the bad things.
The difference to pot is, that you can't smoke pot all day and still live a normal life, as much as you can't drink all day, but you can easily smoke 3 packs a day and have no mental influence. Of course, there will be pot abusers, who will be stoned all day, like there are people who are drunk most of their wake time, but this is only a tiny percentage and eventually they will end up in a clinic or on the streets. Anyway, a certain lethargy makes it even easier for the government to guide the sheep. If you leave reality for a dream world, you don't really care for the bad things.
Here's another article that came out today where politicians are pushing other drug stores to follow CVS's lead and ban tobacco products.
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/197933-senate-dems-urge-drug-stores-to-pull
I agree with latbomber. When I read articles like this it makes me want to go on another cellaring spree.
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/197933-senate-dems-urge-drug-stores-to-pull
I agree with latbomber. When I read articles like this it makes me want to go on another cellaring spree.
Best to play up the old gents using tobacco as a lifeline to sociability. Young dudes smoking tobacco pipes
gets everyone nervous about attracting even younger people to it. Whereas, people figure that anything that
gets an old guy's mind off his sore joints and bladder is likely a good thing.
gets everyone nervous about attracting even younger people to it. Whereas, people figure that anything that
gets an old guy's mind off his sore joints and bladder is likely a good thing.
New Zealand leads the race as a country devoted to eliminating smoking, you can check out their plan. Smoking has been apart of cultures for thousands of years, tobacco now leads the way and will always be produced. Those who enjoy tobacco will always find a way. The Internet will make it easier, with the continuing collecting, buying and investing in pipe collecting only helping.
Craig
Craig
I remember the last person to try and end smoking, he was a German with a tiny little mustache that resembled Charlie Chaplin's. Seriously I have no worries about smoking or tobacco use in general ever being banned, eventually people will realize being told what to do is not so glamorous and actually make there own decisions.
~Ron
~Ron
+1 what dragonslayer said. I don't think they'll ever be able to completely eradicate tobacco smoking. They can beat it down, use fear and bullying tactics to discourage people from smoking, push regulatory restrictions, etc., but just like alcohol and Prohibition, once you tell people they "can't" have something that they've always been allowed and enjoyed, then they'll want it even more and they will seek it out hook or by crook. Prohibition didn't work with alcohol and I can't see it working with tobacco. Besides, once states and municipalities realize how much tax money they would be losing, especially at a time when states and municipalities are scrambling to find new sources of revenue, then I think they will get a quick reality check.
I read that article this morning before going to work. The thing that caught my attention was this:
“In our culture, we tend to think we have a right to things even if they’re terrible for us,”
What loyal American would possibly believe that the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution are applicable today? Hasn't our President made it abundantly clear that the Constitution has been overridden by Executive Order?
The quote is attributed to Ruth Malone, editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Tobacco Control.
It seems to me that something that calls itself Tobacco Control might be deemed more of a propaganda machine than a scientific journal. 8O
“In our culture, we tend to think we have a right to things even if they’re terrible for us,”
What loyal American would possibly believe that the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution are applicable today? Hasn't our President made it abundantly clear that the Constitution has been overridden by Executive Order?
The quote is attributed to Ruth Malone, editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Tobacco Control.
It seems to me that something that calls itself Tobacco Control might be deemed more of a propaganda machine than a scientific journal. 8O
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