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People have tried banning tobacco and alcohol for centuries and it has always failed in the long run.
I think that the anti-smoking movement will eventually implode. Not for a long time, but eventually. I also think that we are going to see another attempt at Prohibition as well. Seeing as how many of the anti-smoking activists are also anti-alcohol and the fact that you are starting to see more politicians and activists attacking alcohol advertising and drinking in general. For the children of course.
My theory is that either the anti-smoking movement will get more aggressive and quickly lose all pretense that it is about health and make it obvious to everyone besides many smokers and sympathetic non-smokers that they are moralists just like the majority of "anti-X". The other way is that advancements in medicine and genetic engineering will either make cancer much more treatable and/or will allow the development in a tobacco with far fewer carcinogens which will make the health risks regarding smoking mostly irrelevant.
I wonder if the tobacco companies have simply lost influence in this country. Why is a pack of cigarettes taxed so high....why not the 64 oz big gulp you don't need?
-Drink sizes have exploded in the last 20-25 years. Absurd levels now. I'd argue, a bag of popcorn (a "medium"), really a large or extra large compared to 25 years ago, is much more dangerous than tobacco. It reaches more people. A lot of kids and teens eat bigger portions than they should. And they start developing habits that lead them later in life.
I bet the cumulative health costs and problems from junk food outweigh tobacco at this point.
Also, wasn't smoking at one point endorsed by doctors? It makes you wonder about the common wisdom of the time.
I wonder if the tobacco companies have simply lost influence in this country. Why is a pack of cigarettes taxed so high....why not the 64 oz big gulp you don't need?
-Drink sizes have exploded in the last 20-25 years. Absurd levels now. I'd argue, a bag of popcorn (a "medium"), really a large or extra large compared to 25 years ago, is much more dangerous than tobacco. It reaches more people. A lot of kids and teens eat bigger portions than they should. And they start developing habits that lead them later in life.
I bet the cumulative health costs and problems from junk food outweigh tobacco at this point.
Also, wasn't smoking at one point endorsed by doctors? It makes you wonder about the common wisdom of the time.
And now the doctors are all sensibly endorsing Big Pharma and all those expensively researched new-fangled products to 'treat' all these wonderfully new-minted diseases, ailments, issues and dramas. Why? PROFIT! Who needs tobacco and booze when natural concerns for healthiness metastasizes into an all-too-persuasive preponderance toward paranoia surrounding health 'issues'? Get people roiled up in some pill for prevention, too...
Snake oils and charlatans, per the usual, the ads everywhere for happy-sounding treatments for... EVERYTHING! Oh! How dare I claim such nonsense, eh! So, we'll cost-cut the sugar and add HFCS, an additive just as safe as honey! Amazing the ease at which people will think an announced 'concern' for something hasn't a profit motive lurking somewhere underneath it. Then there are the Bloomberg-types, all invested in the health industrial complex and spending money to make so much more money and here's my purchased pulpit, the office of mayor of NYC. How very rich!
The names may change but the melodies linger on... and on. I hear the treatment of something called autism has created highly lucrative product lines, amongst so many others, like fat-pills (for the terrified fat-headed?).
while I absolutely hate smoking with a passion, my father is 85 and my mother is 76, both heavy duty smokers, although for the last 16 years they have since stopped.
But and they are still kicking, so I am not really afraid of second hand smoke, otherwise I would be dead by now. Not to mention all their friends smoked, in the house in the winter with the windows closed, all around the children.
Why is there such a strong public campaign against smoking but not excessive alcohol drinking? OK, we are now much more aware about the dangers of driving drunk. However, there is not the same focus on heavy alcohol consumption. Why is there not more emphasis on heavy drinking (except for driving) when heavy drinking causes A LOT more social problems than smoking. Now, I am not condoning smoking. It is indeed a nasty, bad habit. However, what is a greater threat to the health of our society? Smoking a cigarette or drinking until your pass out and do not know what the heck happened that night? In terms of violence, family problems/finances, child abuse and even health problems, alcohol is a far bigger culprit.
Seriously - think about it 20 yrs ago it was common place to see people smoking in bars, inside buildings - now its seen as odd and strange.
Drinking - I remember going out for a drink after work was common place now even getting drunk with workmates could lose you your job.
There is a kind of coldness now, a sort health competitiveness - like you have out do people by going to the gym 6 days a week just to out do them.
You're right about the smoking...but it's always been wrong to make other people (even kids) breathe that stink...real dyhards just moved to the porch is all.........drinking though I don't feel has changed except that now people have just learned that they're better off drinking at home or a friends place...cheaper...and no fines (driving)....better that way...as for going to the gym....I don't think any more go than ever did....you're either into that or you're not....I'd rather drink a cool one on the porch with a friend any day.
THere is not as much emphasis on curbing alcohol because alcohol is truly addictive and the Alkie will go to as great lengths as a heroin addict to get his "fix". He won't sacrifice his alcohol money even if it means he can't repair his car nor even if it means he can't buy food.
In 30 years the whole country will be over-loaded with crack-heads, meth-heads, oxycontin-heads etc. which will be combined with alcohol. Most of today's youth are already lost to this lifestyle. Tobacco will be passe'.
People have tried banning tobacco and alcohol for centuries and it has always failed in the long run.
I think that the anti-smoking movement will eventually implode..
I disagree. The biggest hospital in Kansas City no longer hires people who use tobacco products. I think there is a movement toward health. People are starting to be more conscious of what they are eating, concerned about genetically modified food, are exercising more, and less people are smoking. Alcohol consumption doesn't seem to have slowed down, but people are definitely more conscientious about having a designated driver or taking a taxi after drinking.
I have never understood why people bragged about getting drunk. I mean, kids in high school bragged about going to parties and getting drunk. But people in their 30s, 40s, 50s still do it. I don't have a problem with people having a few drinks, but a lot of people seem to just live to get drunk. Seems immature to me, but whatever.
I am VERY glad to see a decrease in smoking - and this comes from a girl who LOVES a menthol cigarette with a margarita sitting at a bar with some friends.
I love that scenario, but it's NOT healthy and I'm actually glad not to be able to do it - or have to be around others doing it. Smoking is a killer - and it harms everyone around the smoker.
The same could be said about alcohol. The difference I think though is that many people CAN and DO drink in moderation - and a small amount of alcohol on a daily basis can actually have health benefits.
There are NO health benefits to any amount of smoking! Or - even worse - second hand smoke.
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