Should all forms of smoking be illegal?

Yes

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by Joseph Whalen

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Tobacco use in any form, not just in smoked form, has been medically proven to be an addictive and toxic substance that has no demonstrable, positive effects on the human body. The number of ailments that are associated with extended tobacco use through clinical research are almost too many to name. Tobacco is a dangerous substance that is detrimental to the health of those who indulge in it. This is an undisputed fact of the scientific community. Why then is it a substance this is not only legal in the United States, but it is a substance that has no regulation from the Food and Drug Administration?

Government agencies are quick to react to a salmonella outbreak in this country with a SWAT team of specialists design to cope with such a problem. We'll shutdown meat packing plants, food delivery services, food preparation services and even cattle ranches that produce the offending meat. All for a substance that might make someone sick, could possibly kill someone but can be easily rectified through proper handling and preparation of the meat.

This is a shining example of just how askew the priorities are of this country. We will grind an entire industry to a halt because of a random possible threat that might or might not be legitimate, yet we will not only allow the tobacco industry to continue to poison our citizens, we will help with government subsidies. It's an insane arrangement that serves only the tobacco industry and the politicians that are in league with the big businesses, all of whom profit handsomely from the continued sale of tobacco.

Of all the forms of the insidious substance, smoked tobacco is perhaps the vilest. While the United States stands on the principles of freedom it's built upon and we must honor a person's choice to poison their own body with tobacco, smoked tobacco often robs others of that choice. While most people will agree that chewed tobacco is a nasty and disgusting habit, it is a relatively victimless one in which only the person who elects to engage in it, must suffer the consequences. On the other hand, smoked tobacco forces those around the user to have to endure the carcinogens and toxins the user is spewing into the air around them. Second hand smoke accounts for almost as many tobacco related illness as actually engaging in the direct consumption of the product.

If we are to look at this issue strictly from a personal rights perspective, then we must weigh the rights of non-smokers in line with the rights of smokers. Since a single tobacco smoke can quickly and effectively contaminate a room, rail car, bus or other indoor venue in just a matter of minutes and thus subject everyone else in the area to their poison, logic dictates that the rights of the many outweigh the rights of the few.

While there are a plethora of local ordinances in place today in various states and cities that ban indoor smoking, this does not cover all possible situations when an innocent non-smoker may be subject to violation of their rights. Banning indoor smoking may be the first step in a larger crusade, but it should be the basis to illustrate that non-smokers have rights as well.

One person's right to poison themselves does not give them the right to poison someone else. We aren't dealing with non-invasive forms of self- expression, such as freedom of speech. The freedom to smoke poses a direct health risk to others; therefore it should not be a right.

Given the size of the tobacco industry and the amount of money in sales and tax revenue that tobacco sales generate, it is unlikely that we will see any legislation in the near future that would impose oppressive bans on tobacco consumption. In fact the relatively tame restrictions currently in place in many areas are now facing strong challenges from industry and political forces alike.

Its clear our government has less interested in doing what is right for its citizens and instead is more interested in doing what best offers political and professional advancement for themselves. This should come as no surprise to any American, as it has been the policy of our government to serve themselves before the people for decades now.

While relief is unlikely in the coming years, make no mistake about it, the longer smoked tobacco is allowed on the market, the more lives will be lost. The toll on our health industry as a result of the effects of second hand smoke are taking a tremendous toll. Millions of dollars a year are spent treating various ailments and afflictions that scientists today can track directly back to the effects of smoked tobacco and tobacco in general. While we are no longer facing the greater moral issues of slavery as part of the tobacco industry, we are facing what could potentially be even more insidious and that is the slow murder of millions of Americans at the hands of smokers.

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