Should smoking be made illegal?

princesspea990

I think smoking should be made illegal. It's okay to ban smoking in public areas but if you notice every time you walk out of a pub or shop etc there are smokers puffing their heads off and you inhale the smoke. There's butt ends everywhere too. It's disgusting. Also smoking costs the NHS, which is in dire straights enough, billions of pounds every year. It's a fact that smoking damages your health so why do people do it then expect to be provided with free health care? Banning cigarettes may lose the government taxes but surely eventually this can be weighed up against the amount of money smoking costs the NHS? YES BAN CIGARETTES!!!

.::rainbow armadillo::.

No...people have a right to kill themselves slowly..I feel that segregated smoking areas is enough of a restriction...

ukpoliticalreform

Gordon Brown said on Radio 4 some months ago that the UK would be a smoke free country by the year 2020. It will be banned under current government guidelines.
Despite the health risks I still think it is up to the individual to want to stop smoking and not be told.
On a second note about health issues when did the government ask any of us if it was ok to put Flouride in our water. How about Aspartame in our food. Seems a bit 2 faced when you think about it!!!

paul_601

Definitely not. Smoking is nearly banned everywhere in public anyway. There are too many laws as it is. What would happen to people caught smoking - fine them, they don't pay, what then?

Mac

Really seems like a catch-22.
Like you mentioned, the Gov't makes a lot of money off of cigarette sales a year, would be a huge revenue lost to those major corporations, and we all know corporations have their hand in the govt pocket, so that will be hard to do.

Im a non smoker, and I don't care either way. It is a free country, so we are brainwashed to believe. It seems like they are taking the right to smoke away more and more from not smoking in public places, to not smoking in your own car if you have children in there (CA law recently passed.)
I know here in FL, no smoking in restaurants. But you can in bars if no food is served.

Cherrypicker

I am a smoker and it already feels illegal, but of course it is not. As you say, the Government have a dilemma because of the revenue they earn through the sale of cigarettes.

Ben Gunn

In the 1920s, alcohol was banned in the USA. This led to a rise in organised crime and world-famous gangsters. The present ban on illegal drugs has a similar effect. I think the same thing would happen if smoking was banned. It makes more sense to concentrate on educating children so that they do not want to smoke.

galyamike

Too many people still smoke. Outlawing it now would produce a prohibition-style situation. When (if) the number of smokers is reduced to below a critical number, then it just might work. (I do not know what that number might be, but I am sure it exists). Why bother anyway. If people want to smoke, let them.

jaimie c

what happened to freedom, they are trying to take everything away from us, all the pubs are shutting down due to the smoking ban. let us live how we want. they shouldnt punish us with this crap.we pay for it with our tax and health, it should be our choice and not theirs.

tom2764

Yes then I would have no reason to carry on

huny

Now that would be taking away freedom of choice.
It already feels like that if you are a smoker you are not welcome in society.

waldo_mcginty

The short answer is "No". Just because the government want people to stop smoking is not a reason for making it illegal.Likewise just because a doctor says its bad for me is no reason either to make it illegal.In a democratic society no-one should need to say anymore than that.

Chris

I think it should be banned off the streets and outside shops. They should be made to go through a barrier that detects the smell of smoke, and if it is too high, make them wash their clothes and spray their mouths. sort of like a sheep dip type of thing. Sometimes people walking past me, make me physically sick with the smell. It is gross.

wolf

they should try nursing a loved one with lung cancer as they are dying and they still ask you for a smoke sorry

robert c

Yes!

Pink-Sunshine Sakura

No, but it should be made illegal in all public places and you should only be able to smoke it in your own home. I don't want to pay even more tax. Moneys tight as it is. For the sake of the poor out there it should not be made illegal, even if it is bad for you peole have thier own choice wether to kill themsleves or not. And poor people can't afford more taxing.
I don't smoke personally and i think its terrible

GCJ

From a national health perspective, youÂ´ll be forced to make illegal pasta eating too. If smoking is banned, so why not the Italian restaurants.

America is the fatest nation in the world. The government spends a lot on treat weight related deceases, like diabetes.

The key is to respect the nonsmokers rights, not banning smoking.

Samuel

We're meant to be a free country so no they shouldn't make it illegal.

As a smoker I appreciate both sides of the argument and agree with a lot of the no smoking policies. The loss of revenue would be hard for the government to stand but I'm sure that if tobacco was a newly found thing it would be illegal. As it isn't, I think freedom of choice is important. What does bug me though is that alcohol doesn't get as much bad press as tobacco. If I have an extra couple of smokes on a Friday night I won't get into a fight and cause huge policing/nursing costs....

Diabolical

No I don't think it should. If it became illegal then the govenment would have to make up the losses in other areas, which means EVERYONE would be paying more. The govenment has already raised taxes on alcohol.
There are bigger issues other than smoking.

Let people do as they please, of course we need rules but we don't need to be nannied.

GAVIN E

It doesn't matter if it is made illegal. People will still do it.

Drinking and driving, Drug taking, Speeding, Using a mobile whilst driving are all deemed illegal, but it sure as 'eck doesn't stop people doing those things.

taterli

If you make smoking illegal, you should also make drinking alcohol illegal, as well as drinking soft drinks, eating chips, hamburgers, any fat meals because they cause overweight.
Breathing can also be made illegal because the air is polluted and swimming in the sea should also be made illegal because of the pollution. Speaking and music can also be made illegal because it might disturb our our neighbours, so wa can also make television, cinema and television illegal because it might be bad for our eyes, etc... etc... etc...

monkeyballsmaster

Should be illegal, Its pretty much a drug. Inhale smoke for a certain high it gives you and then you get addicted...

Edit: oh yeah and it kills you too.

Put_waste_in_its_place

yes.

joan k

No, alcohol is worse than cigarettes. Alcohol leads to drunk driving, domestic violence, violence on the streets, so ban that first

Teh Finkster

as long as youre not around me its alrite with me :)

Misty W

What i don't understand yea sure people die from lung cancer from cigs all the time but it's a life style that is chosen. but people who drink alchol choose that life style also but when the get behind the wheel they choose to to put other in danger. that's not the innocents choice to die by a drunk. My point is they should make alchol illegal before cigs

cajunbaby

i wish they would i live with a smoker and i stay sick its not fair to the ones that care about their health to have to smell their crap

JOHN B

i am certain that if smoking was introduced today it would made illegal. In these days we know not only does it damage your lungs (at the very least), but effects basically every part of your body. So, yes, it should be made illegal.

Xiomy

I think they should.

Lora W

It should definitely be made illegal. Nicotine is the most addictive drug in the world next to alcohol. More people die from smoking related diseases than illegal narcotics. ( I am an ex-smoker)

The Doctor

I think they should make it illegal. they waste more money trying to stop people smoking, than it would to illegalise it. it's the same with drink driving.

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