If second hand smoke is more harmful and dangerous, why isn't smoking illegal... you're putting OTHER people's health in danger as well as you own..?
by 
rawr.760
ANSWERS: 6
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Good point, although I suppose the smoker could claim that the other people in the vicinatey (Spelling?) want to breathe in all the smoke.
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When the yanks discovered that alcohol damaged your health they tried to ban it. They failed. Alcohol was too firmly entrenched in society so all they did was teach disrespect for the law and give an easy money making scheme to thugs like Al Capone. If they had've succeeded in banning alcohol then I have no doubt that smoking would've been next. If the ill effects of alcohol or smoking had've been discovered soon enough after their introduction, before being firmly embedded in society, then they would have been successfully banned before they got a foot hold.
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If the government were to create a new law, and enforce it effectively for a period of about 5-10 years, it still might not be so bad if they decided to ban smoking. However, the truth is, laws are often EXTREMELY difficult to enforce. Think about it. There are just not enough cops out there. Most people just HAVE to drive at LEAST 5mph over the speed limit, even though that is deemed illegal. Even though alcohol is legal, there are COUNTLESS underage drinkers out there, which is illegal. The easiest laws to enforce are those that directly harm/effect another business, such as robbery, or things such as murder. Not to mention, if smoking is banned, several people will be out of a job. If it was completely thought and planned out, every single aspect of what this law would do, then I believe it could happen. It SHOULD happen. Perhaps if the government paid for every smoker to undergo some sort of treatment or therapy to quit smoking, the idea would also be that much more appealing. This is my first post, so I apologize if my grammar/explanations are not the greatest.
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In a free society, you are free to harm yourself, but not others, which is why smoking is pretty much being banned around other people. I personally don't want to live in a society where government controls everything you do.
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I think it is because people have had the right to smoke for a long time. Also, the tobacco companies have a lot of power/influence over lawmakers. Finally, some people would say there is no definite evidence of direct causality between secondhand smoke and cancer.
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Too many people make a big deal over breathing other people's cigarettes. The government wants everybody to think that is the major cause of lung cancer. What about when your neighbor lights up a burn barrel full of toxic plastics. Or that film of dust you see on the dash of your car, that is mostly asbestos dust from brake shoes. The government banned asbestos from being used on cars but not big trucks. The things that are not biodegradable such as fiberglass or asbestos are more likely to be the causes of lung cancer. My grandfather lived to be 94 and he smoked but never drove a car. He died from a heart attack. Whenever you see a person that has lung cancer and never smoked, did he drive on the highways, probably.
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