Ban cigarette production?

greendawn

Given that cigarettes are harmful to health why don't the governments shut down the factories producing them? It's strange how they tolerate them but not marijuana.

Smoking costs a lot of money to the health services of all countries, while the tobacco industries make their profits. Do you think they should be banned?

serendipity

There are a lot of other things that are unhealthy for people. Do we ban those items as well? I'm not a smoker, so don't care, but would worry about this from a human rights aspect.

heathen

I think the sale of ciggarettes should be banned , however if you grow your own tobacco that will be legal since you won't be able to sue anybody if you get sick . I know I'm so sick of hearing how states are suing the industry for health problems that they are forced to deal with on account of the crap . People that say they are addicted are complete losers , I have started and quit smoking probly a half dozen times in my life so it's very possible to quit and I don't see why my tax money should go to keeping people alive on respirators when they afflicted their own stupid self . I tell ya we should just buy them the bullet to put themselves out of misery with . or give them a visit from dr kovorkian..

Robdar

Heathen:

I have started and quit smoking probly a half dozen times in my life so it's very possible to quit and I don't see why my tax money should go to keeping people alive on respirators when they afflicted their own stupid self . I tell ya we should just buy them the bullet to put themselves out of misery with . or give them a visit from dr kovorkian..

If you aren't addicted, why do you keep going back to cigarettes?

You probably have many unhealthy habits that are affecting your life. I don't see why I should pay for the medical expenses of keeping you alive when it starts to take a toll on you. Here's a bullet. You know what to do.

eyeslice

The problem with cigarettes is that even governments appear not to be able to spell out in words of one syllable exactly how dangerous cigarettes are.
Smoking Kills - exactly what does this mean? It means that 50 % (or 1 in every 2 people) of those who smoke will die of a smoking related illness.
Smoking causes early death. By how much? The average smoker will die 10 years sooner than the average non-smoker.
Can I state the dangers any more clearly? Every arguement for smoking ignores the basic truths I have stated.

Lady Lee

Well Canada is getting pretty close to banning smoking.

It is now illegal to smoke in any indoor and even outdoor public place. In front of hospitals and health centres you have to be a certain distance from the doors so people don't have to walk through a haze of smoke to enter or exit the building.

Banning the butt: Global anti-smoking efforts CBC News Online | June 27, 2006

Day by day, smoking is becoming a thing of the past in Canada. The number of smokers declines every year, going hand in hand with an increase in efforts by government and health activists to tighten up restrictions on the sale and use of tobacco.

Smoking has been banned from most offices for some time, but the bans are now extending to bars, restaurants and other public places. Some cities have banned smoking outright, shutting down separate smoking rooms altogether.

Canada is considered to be among those countries at the forefront of anti-smoking legislation, but the rest of the world is beginning to catch up. Here's a sampler of homegrown and global anti-smoking measures:

Efforts in Canada

Quebec, a province with one of the highest smoking rates in Canada, prohibited smoking in all enclosed public spaces as of May 31, 2006. Since Quebec's Bill 112 came into effect, smoking is not allowed in restaurants, bars, private clubs, bingo halls, casinos, school grounds, shelters or other facilities open to the public. In addition, smoking is forbidden within nine metres of any doorway leading to a health or social services institution, college, university or child-care facility. Bill 112 bans designated smoking rooms in bars, restaurants and other businesses, but allows hotels to assign up to 40 per cent of their rooms for smokers and allows some exceptions for long-term care institutions.
Ontario has passed a provincewide ban on smoking in workplaces and all indoor public areas, including designated smoking rooms. The ban effectively prohibits smoking in all indoor areas except people's homes or temporary accommodations such as hotel rooms. It also bans smoking in work vehicles, and prominent displays of tobacco products in stores. It came into effect in June 2006.
On Jan. 19, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Saskatchewan can reinstate a law requiring store owners to keep tobacco products out of sight, the so-called "shower curtain law."
On Jan. 1, 2005, all public places in Saskatoon, including outdoor seating areas and veterans' clubs, will go smoke-free. Smokers can be fined up to $10,000 for lighting up. Fines against businesses can go as high as $25,000.
On Oct. 1, 2004, the governments of New Brunswick and Manitoba instituted provincewide smoking bans in all public areas. Restaurants and bars will no longer be able to have smoking sections or glassed-in smoking areas.
As of June 1, 2004, Toronto requires all bars, pool halls, bingo halls, casinos and racetracks to be smoke-free. Fines range from $205 to $5,000. A 2001 bylaw banned smoking in all restaurants, dinner theatres and bowling centres, except in designated smoking rooms. A plan to outlaw designated smoking rooms in Toronto by 2005 was sent back to city council for review.
On May 1, 2004, the Worker's Compensation Board for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut bans smoking in all enclosed businesses and work sites in both territories. The ban includes bars. It takes precedence over and goes further than the law passed by Nunavut's legislature six months earlier, which banned smoking in all public places - and would have been extended to bars, within two years. The ban hits a region with the highest smoking rates in the country.
On Sept. 1, 2003, authorities in Winnipeg begin enforcing a smoking ban in all public places, starting on Sept. 1, 2003. The ban was to have gone into effect July 1, 2003, but the city agreed to a two-month grace period to get inspectors ready to enforce the ban in provincial casinos.
A provincewide smoking ban goes into effect in P.E.I. on June 1, 2003, banning smoking in any public place or workplace, except in specially ventilated smoking rooms.
On April 1, 2003, a law goes into effect in Alberta in which people under age 18 who are caught smoking or in possession of tobacco products can not only have their cigarettes seized by police, but also can be fined up to $100.
On Jan. 1, 2003, the Northwestern (Ontario) Health Unit bans smoking in all public places and private businesses. Intended to be one of the toughest anti-smoking bylaws anywhere, penalties range from $5,000 to $25,000 a day.
On Jan. 1, 2003, Nova Scotia bans smoking in many public places, including taxicabs, bowling alleys and schoolyards. In bars and restaurants, smoking is restricted to an enclosed room that's separately ventilated and available only to adults. Police can also seize tobacco from people under age 19. In earlier legislation, Nova Scotia banned smoking in prison.
On Dec. 31, 2002, Saskatchewan passes a law forcing bingo parlours, bars, casinos, restaurants and bowling alleys to designate 40 per cent of space as non-smoking. The requirement increases to 60 per cent by 2004.
Anti-smoking bylaws in Winnipeg and St. John's, Nfld., goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2002. They ban smoking in any indoor location where minors are present. Some coffee shops and restaurants get around the new rules by banning children.
The City of Ottawa bans smoking in all workplaces and public spaces, with no allowance for designated smoking rooms, effective Aug. 1, 2001. Victoria, B.C., and Waterloo, Ont., have similar bans.
On May 22, 2001, the City of Edmonton bans smoking in all public places where children are served, except for lounges.
In Quebec, it is against the law to sell tobacco by mail order, over the internet, on school grounds or in a health-care, social services or child-care facility.
Ontario prohibits tobacco sales at hospitals, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and charitable institutions.

Efforts around the world

On June 27, 2006, the U.S. surgeon general Richard Carmona said only smoke-free buildings and public places can protect people from second-hand smoke, after releasing his report on the Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. He said non-smokers need smoking restrictions in public places and workplaces to protect people from the "serious health hazard."
On Feb. 7, 2005, Cuba banned smoking in public places, except for designated smoking areas in restaurants. It also banned sales of cigarettes to children under 16 and at stores within 100 metres of a school. Four in 10 Cubans smoke.
Italy introduced legislation on Jan. 10, 2005, to ban smoking in public places. It was originally expected to take effect Dec. 31, 2004, but legislators decided to allow smokers to light up on New Year's. Restaurant and bar owners are upset that they will be required to report their customers if they break the law.
The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan in December 2004 became the first country in the world to ban all tobacco sales and smoking in public.
In March 2004, Ireland becomes the first country to institute a total ban on smoking in all workplaces, including the country's more than 10,000 pubs.
On March 1, 2003, a law in New York City goes into effect that bans smoking in bars and restaurants with few exceptions, such as parts of outdoor cafes, existing cigar bars owner-operated private clubs.
In May 2001, the European Union gives its final approval to legislation that would ban the use of the terms "light" and "mild" for advertising cigarettes, and allow for graphic pictures of diseased lungs and hearts on cigarette packs.
In March 2001, Israel bans smoking in all public places including hospitals, shopping malls and restaurants. Separate smoking rooms with ventilation may be permitted in some cases.
In April 2001, Egypt enacts a ban on cigarette advertising on state-run television. At the time, the government already restricted smoking in government buildings and airports.
Also in April; 2001, health officials from eight Asian countries - Indonesia, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka - agree to support a proposal to totally ban cigarette advertising.
In February 2001, Russia's Duma gives preliminary approval to bills banning tobacco ads in print media, on street billboards and in public transportation. They were already banned from television.

Restaurants and bars invariably predict sales will plummet once a smoking ban is put in place. In Ireland, a month after the ban went into effect, the government's Office of Tobacco Control reported that 97 per cent of inspected pubs and restaurants were complying with the law. It also cited two studies which suggested that the number of non-smokers visting pubs and bars had increased, while the number of smokers doing so had remained the same.

A day later, the main bar owners' association cited a study of its own. It suggested sales had fallen 12 to 15 per cent. But Ireland's restaurant association reported sales were about the same as they were a year earlier.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/smoking/smokingbans.html

Satanus

It's a good idea that wouldn't work. Govts know of the damages to society, and the promotion of crime and organised crime that prohibition of booze caused directly. Even though cigs are harmful, banning production would be much more harmful, in general. Think about it.

S

dvw

smoking is dangerous, so is skydiving, drinking beer, fatty foods, motorcycles, and sodomy, etc. let's ban em' all!

computers are also not that healthy, carpal tunnel and all. it's been nice knowing y'all.

parakeet

Banning tobacco would be like the Prohibition all over again; it wouldn't work. Like alcohol, tobacco use should be up to the individual (however ill-advised). Smoking is banned from nearly all public places already, so there's no further danger to public health, just to individual smokers. They should have the freedom to smoke in their homes and their cars if they want.
I've never been a smoker, but I eat way too many doughnuts. Maybe there should be a ban on doughnuts.

heathen

I think I go back to smoking every once in awhile because I live with smokers and some times associate with smokers so it is bad association to be around smokers . I'm just saying it may be addicting but it's not impossible to quit like smokers with health problems argue in court .I think I have quit for the last time tho and don't plan on paying 3-5 dollars a pack , their goal is to reach 5 dollars eventually and I think that's absurd . I also stated that people should be able to grow tobacco just not sell tobacco products , so they can't turn around and sue for something they did to themselves deliberately and with for knowledge that smoking causes illness . If I did get sick from doing things that are not good for you then I would welcome the bullet . thank you ................ I don't like the idea of staying alive just to suffer another day...

Ban cigarette production?

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