General News Sanders Ponders Legality of Cigarettes

As someone who smokes, I am now at a rare point where I disagree with Sanders on something.

 

Cigarettes and alcohol are legal because prohibition doesn't work. Legalize, regulate, and tax.

 

They will never make smoking cigarettes illegal. They'll make it a pain in the ass to smoke them but they'll never make them illegal. They make way too much money on them.

 

As a longterm heavy smoker, I have often wished that cigarettes were illegal and unobtainable. It was SO easy to buy them at twelve and is SO hard to quit in my thirties.

 

Hilary wouldn't dare do any of this!

 

I can't stand cigarette smoke. Forget the taxes they should charge fines for people smoking in no smoking zones. Get caught smoking at a park? $1000 fine

 

I don't think Sanders (or basically anyone) would try to fully ban smoking. He'd lose half his voters in a second, lol.

 

Yes. Goddammit Bernie, eyes on the prize! Can't go muddying his platform with crap like this.

 

*Sigh* If only. As someone with asthma who is quite severely affected by cigarette smoke, I would LOVE the idea of travelling to an alternative universe where everything is the same except that nobody smokes.

But alas, I know that's just me being overly idealistic.

I don't mind people smoking E-cigs, at least with them I don't stand a chance of having an asthma attack. And people go on and on about moving to the sea-side to "get away from it all", but smokers go in their masses to these small villages and towns by the seaside to get away from pollution and get some fresh air, only to go smoke there and wonder why the air "isn't as fresh as it used to be". :dry:

To me, these people annoy me as much as the people who know that a certain type of aerosol affects you, asks you if you're ok with it, you say "no" and yet they STILL go on to spray it. F:***:ck you.

I know that banning it won't stop people from obtaining it, I just...hate it. I can't sit outside at restaurants because you can just bet that they'll be someone out there smoking on one of the tables. This is especially annoying on a really hot day. I find it hard travelling to college because the amount of people smoking I pass makes me feel slightly woozy and my chest can get a little tight and it's horrible. I'd imagine having a giant snake wrapped around your insides would feel similar actually, not that I've ever experienced that.

At least at airports they have a "smoking room" usually, so at least with that it's contained. I'm not sure what it is in cigarettes that affects me so badly, but hey at least it's put me off doing drugs (well that and common sense). :dry: I know this post isn't going to win me much popularity, but I really don't care anymore.

Try having severe asthma and being stuck in a small lift, with the smell of smoke lingering on a hoard of people's clothes, as they stand around you in lift as you feel your self get woozy and start to panic, but have to try and stay calm because that'll only make it worse, and you have to keep a straight face because hey everything's fine otherwise people will laugh at you because you're weak but your physical health matters so you have to try and not think about it and hope that you can get out the lift before the smoke starts to have an effect on your breathing and you start to wonder what the point of life is if everything is trying to kill you. You start to wonder just how weak and pointless you are. And then you start to get depressed, so you just go out your way to try and find the positives in the day to try and keep your mood up.

..Sorry, I know I'm just projecting now. :icon_redf

 

I wish they provided a video. If he really thinks this, I'd have to disagree. But I do wonder if he was using it as an example of how corporations can push deadly products because they influence the government with money, while other things that may be just as bad as cigarettes are outlawed (i.e. Marijuana). That seems more aligned with his typical viewpoint. I would hope he's not suggesting a cigarette "prohibition." It won't happen anyway -- I think we learned our lesson...

 

You mean question why they are legal in the US? He's not really taking a stance, just leaving the topic open to discussion. He's completely in favor of marijuana, so I can assume he has no plans to actually ban cigarettes. He just seems concerned with the safety and regulation of them, which is fair to say.

 

Thankfully I think they are largely becoming a problem of the past. Not through banning, but the exact opposite: through their legal-status, education and new technology.

Most young kids are now into e-cigs/vaporizers rather than cigarettes. Probably equally as addictive due to the nicotine, but at least without half of the side effects (and from current research much less of a cancer risk).

Its easy to see why: customizable "gadgets" appealing to the iPhone generation (even as a non-smoker I think the technology is pretty cool!), a multitude of different flavors to choose from, no coughing, no stained teeth or fingers, massively cheaper.

 

I was kidding silly!

 

I'm a smoker, and now I'm definitely not voting for Sanders. I actually just got back from my polling place, it's primaries in my state today. Anybody who wants to take away cigarettes is a fascist pig. Bernie Sanders is now on my shitlist of fascist pigs.

 

Wow. Was this the tipping point for you? It sounds like you had no plans to vote for him at all regardless. If you did, why did it change your mind? All he did was ask a question.

 

In my opinion, I think its ridiculous to ban cigarette smoking. I under the health issues that comes along with the smoking habit, but I also tend to feel that if an individual is aware of these issues ...then why restrict an adult to buy them if they want to??? I feel its their right to do so and no one should restrict or ban them from doing so. I also agree with being at least 18 years of age in order to purchase them as well. I was really stunned when the CVS pharmacies stopped selling them because the tobacco industry is very profitable to say the least. I just feel that with everyone saying that this is not good for you and you should not eat or drink this; well, it seems as if nothing is good for you and therefore, I believe if I'm going to die from eating, smoking or drinking something...then I would rather go a happy man because it was my choice...not society.