by A.W. Mosby

Created on: June 07, 2009   Last Updated: June 09, 2009

I, for one, am a very strong believer in the freedom of choice. It is up to any person in question as to whether or not they wish to do something. And here I am, not speaking in any vague terms. People should be held responsible for the damage that they cause others and not the damage that they cause themselves. In this respect, I think one should be able to do what they wish, as long as it doesn't cause any harm to those around them.

The legality, itself, is a double edged blade. On the one hand, the freedom to choose for oneself is slowly stripped away piece by piece, until there is nothing left to one's own will. In this way, the line between legal and illegal becomes more of a caution tape with nothing printed on it; it is all the more tempting to find out what is on the other side. If people were simply given the choice instead of being regulated, any action would become tiresome and lose its popularity, especially those that have deeper roots with the "cool factor". On the other hand, limiting freedoms protects those that don't want to partake in certain things. Where smoking can cause cancer or lung problems in someone that is simply around smokers too much, a ban on tobacco consumption and sales, would only cause smokers to fulfill themselves privately, as opposed to publicly.

If smoking were illegal, people would still smoke. Perhaps they would find other, more harmful things, to ingest or more likely, there would be an underground production and market of tobacco, just as there is for any other illegal substance. The same thing has happened in the past and still continues to happen. With the more the government outlaws, the enticement to do what is considered illegal rises. On top of that, some things simply have a draw to them that give them the same enticement without the help of legality, compounded with a "dirty deed" perspective; those things would only become more secretive and widespread. At one time, drinking was the same. Today we have problems with underage drinking and smoking. Minors easily acquire alcohol and tobacco, what would the effect be if the same things were taken from adults?

While I neither support nor object to a persons right to do what they enjoy, it should be regulated out of consideration to others around. What someone does for themselves is all well and good; however, there is a very thin veil between pleasure for oneself and pain for another. The goal should be to regulate, not eliminate.

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