The Student Room Group

Should cigarettes be made illegal?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Swanbow
No.

It is a matter of person choice. Plus the revenue it brings in far outweighs the costs. By all means go for plain packaging, put more funding into stop smoking initiatives, educate people more on the harms of smoking. But banning it is absurd. It'll create a black market, which will cost the government billions to control without any revenue. Within a few generations tobacco smoking will probably cease anyway, outside of cigar and pipe aficionados, replaced by the much less harmful practice of vapping.


Plain packing is actually a bad idea, because the more we make cigarettes plain the easier it is to sell illegal cigarettes
If people want to smoke... uuh... let them.
I would love to see this happen
Original post by a noble chance
The health effects of passive smoking in an open space are basically equal to the effects of urban pollution. Essentially nil. Are you therefore seriously supporting banning smoking because you occasionally find yourself inhaling a passing wisp?



Perhaps you could try speeding up, slowing down or going a different way then.


It's not about health effects, I hate the smell and don't want to be walking behind it all the time.

Why should I have to move? Even though I already speed up to avoid it but people who smoke should move. Or preferably it should be a law that you can't smoke in public places
As someone who very recently (last year) started smoking the occasional cigarette, I've been shocked by just how dogmatic people - especially those of my age - are about it. This shouldn't be surprising, considering just how widely and dogmatically it's been drilled into the current generation (not in itself a bad thing), but it always gets me. I've actually lost otherwise-good, perfectly-intelligent friends over the one thing, it's pretty sad.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 85
Avatar for Souljer
Souljer
6
TBH I recon in 10 years everyone will be smoking electronic cigs, the rate of people smoking them have seriously increased.
Reply 86
Avatar for Mr JB
Mr JB
2
No. The UK is such a police state telling everyone what they should and should not do. The government should mind their own business.

Original post by King Leonidas
Nah, let smokers increase the risk of getting cancer.

Cigs act as a natural cleanser of the gene pool.

Nomsayian.


No, I don't. Some of the most intelligent and innovative humans ever have done things like smoke, drugs and drink alcohol. Some have even abused such substances. There is a thin line between crazy and genius.
Original post by Jammy Duel
So we should also ban cars, trains, planes, all electrical appliances, anything that requires power to produce, planes, boats. Actually, let's be really facetious, ban life.

Posted from TSR Mobile


This is an irrelevant arguments as these items have important uses, smoking is not needed and contributes to excess pollution.If we want to tackle pollution problems then we need to start getting rid of things we don't need like cigarettes.I do support heavily restricting car(maybe even ban) and aeroplane travel.

You also failed to respond to the problem of second hand smoke where people have died due to ingesting too much smoke and these deaths have been caused by people smoking.
(edited 8 years ago)
I hate the smell of smoke. I hate cigarettes and what they do. Heck, my mum usually recalls in laughter, how as a child I used to blow out people's cigarettes in the shopping centre!

But, a ban would be a terrible blow to liberty. Especially considering all of the statutes against smoking anyway right now. Give support to people who want to, and are making the effort, to cut down. Invest in education to stop people smoking in the first place.

Also, a ton of my co-workers have taken up or even rekindled smoking since they've started working for the well-known retail company I work for. There's a lot of stress, and it isn't coincidence that they turn to cigarettes.
Original post by Dalek1099
This is an irrelevant arguments as these items have important uses, smoking is not needed and contributes to excess pollution.If we want to tackle pollution problems then we need to start getting rid of things we don't need like cigarettes.I do support heavily restricting car(maybe even ban) and aeroplane travel.

You also failed to respond to the problem of second hand smoke where people have died due to ingesting too much smoke and these deaths have been caused by people smoking.


You said absolutely nothing about usefulness, merely the health and environmental damage, things that all things I listed are just as bad for. Best way to protect people's health and the environment: genocide.

Your second section implies you believe that vehicle and power plant emissions don't do the same thing...

Posted from TSR Mobile
Wow, after looking at the poll results one thing is clear;

the authoritarianism in this forum is strong.
Jesus christ, a majority of TSR wants to ban cigarettes.

Sometimes this forum depresses me more than question time. :no:
Original post by Jammy Duel
Plain packing is actually a bad idea, because the more we make cigarettes plain the easier it is to sell illegal cigarettes


It is a counterfeiter's wet dream, but at the same time it goes lengths to de-glamorise smoking. So long as regulation remains in place to insure that retailers properly source their tobacco and cigarettes, and it is checked up on, the retail consumer won't really be at any more risk risk of smoking knock off fags. Although those who source their tobacco from the black market will no longer find it possible to accurately differentiate between genuine, but illicitly sourced products, and knock off illegal products.

Plain packaging wouldn't be my first priority, but I'm not opposed to it.
Original post by Swanbow
It is a counterfeiter's wet dream, but at the same time it goes lengths to de-glamorise smoking. So long as regulation remains in place to insure that retailers properly source their tobacco and cigarettes, and it is checked up on, the retail consumer won't really be at any more risk risk of smoking knock off fags. Although those who source their tobacco from the black market will no longer find it possible to accurately differentiate between genuine, but illicitly sourced products, and knock off illegal products.

Plain packaging wouldn't be my first priority, but I'm not opposed to it.


Many turning to the black market probably won't care much, over half of any tobacco product, bar perhaps snuff and the up market fags, is tax. The amount they can undercut...

Posted from TSR Mobile
Incidental point: I wonder how many of the people ITT who want to go around banning products that they disapprove of have recently criticised the government for dealing with the Chinese (who, incidentally, permit their citizens to smoke)? Because any such people need to pick a position: are they in favour of a free, liberal state, or are they not?

I couldn't care less whether banning them would result in a black market or anything of the sort. The fact that today's students are so ready to condone such close governmental control of people's lives is frankly frightening.
The government should give people many choices. Smokers should have the right to die of cancer or emphysema. Non-smokers should have the right to die naturally. So illegal cigs may not be the right solution. People should have the right to die of whatever they dream of.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by tinkerbell_xxx
It's not about health effects, I hate the smell and don't want to be walking behind it all the time.

Why should I have to move? Even though I already speed up to avoid it but people who smoke should move. Or preferably it should be a law that you can't smoke in public places


Yeah, why should anyone do anything to avoid a minor inconvenience when they could just ban the inconvenience itself.

Christ this place is depressing.
Keep cigarettes legal - if I smoke, I do try my best to stay away from those who don't, and certainly away from children, however, if you're getting a waft of it, either give me a dirty look, or move away... or both! not difficult!
I really cannot believe that banning them has 63% of the vote on this poll. Wow.
I don't mind people smoking, though I wish they wouldn't, for the cost as much as the health reasons.

Anyway. I don't believe in stopping people doing stuff if it doesn't harm other people, and I certainly don't like the idea of forcing people who want to smoke into smoking pen like areas. But there is one thing I don't like, and it's walking along pavements on the way to work every morning. Especially in London, or busy areas, and the pavement is often thick with cigarette smoke. It seems to be worse this year than I remember it being in past years (I even wonder if cigarette sales have gone up?) I don't have any helpful solution to this, it's probably a case of everyone (smokers and non smokers alike) being considerate of one another. Just wanted to voice that gripe as I don't find it very pleasant, especially if you have a drink or are eating something.

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you