Smoking Cigarretes Should Be Illegal.

In this opening round I will answer my opponent's analysis about smoking. Under each point I will show why the point is actually a point for me. Smoker's Health Smoking is the number one cause of premature mortality in the United States and the world[1]. One or two chemicals which in isolation, or tablet form, might improve brain function when someone has certain mental illnesses are indeed present in cigarettes. But then again, so are sixty-nine cancer-causing chemicals[1]. The fact of the matter is smoking is deadly, not health-beneficial. That's why there are warnings on cigarette packets. People who eat grapefruit regularly are far less likely to be admitted to hospital than those who smoke regularly. Non-smoker's Health I think we all know second-hand smoke is harmful only in closed environments. The trouble is that closed environments is where smokers choose to smoke - bars, workplaces, homes and so on. This leads to about 15,000 kids in the United States going to hospital every year for respiratory tract infections alone[1]. It's probably because even according to the tobacco companies, smoke breathed out is more harmful than what a smoker breathes in[2]. If you walk past a smoker at Wal-Mart, you may not immediately drop dead, but a little poison will enter your bloodstream. Freedom of Choice I get really annoyed when this argument is run by drug supporters. Smoking is addictive. Therefore smoking removes choice. That's why it is so hard to quit. If we want to maximize freedom of choice, what we should do is ban things that remove people's freedom of choice. Therefore we should ban addictive substances. Therefore we should ban smoking. In the US, none of those smoker's warnings actually tell smokers that what they are doing is addictive. However, freedom of choice is not absolute. We do ban things when there is a significant potential harm to individuals and/or society at large. That's why we ban driving in unsafe cars. It's also why we should ban cigarettes - we don't want people harming their own or each others health. Prohibition There is a significant difference between banning alcohol and banning cigarettes. That is simple. It is possible to casually drink alcohol on a regular basis and suffer no ill health effects. That is not possible with cigarettes. Prohibition didn't work because there was no perception of public risk around alcohol. With cigarettes, however, there is a very strong perception of public risk. Even the tobacco companies own research suggests that with a partial (public places) ban "Smokers facing these restrictions consume 11%-15% less than average and quit at a rate that is 84% higher than average. [2]" In my own country, the drop has in fact not been a mere 15%, but 67%[3]. There is no similar evidence that banning has any effect on alcohol consumption. There is nothing attractive about illegal things. Unless you think murder is attractive. I do admit that it won't stop all smokers from smoking. It will stop many, but you can't prevent a black market. What it will do is stop potential smokers from starting. Black market smoking would be done secretly, and therefore young children would not be exposed to cigarettes. Most jurisdictions report a 90% compliance rate[2]. That's worth fighting for. Model So as the affirmative team, this is my proposition. I would ban all tobacco production, sale and possession in the same way that marijuana is presently restricted, by 2025. That would give smokers some time to quit. Production would be illegal earlier, by 2020, to make sure that large surplus stocks are not left lying around for the mafia to steal (this was one of the major problems with prohibition). This would of course be accompanied by large-scale advertising campaigns on the dangers of smoking. So why do this? We, as a society, have a moral obligation to each other. That's why we ban suicide. It is the government's role to create disincentives for socially undesirable behavior. Is a health-care system that can barely cope socially desirable? No! Is the ready sale of trillions of sticks consisting largely of rat poison for public consumption socially desirable? No! Is it socially desirable that ordinary citizens are slaves to globs of nicotine-infused tar? No! It is time that our politicians took a stand. It is time that we recognised the tobacco industry for what it is. It is time that we banned smoking. In 1993, the United States Supreme Court ruled that second-hand smoke was a cruel and unusual punishment, and thus in violation of the eighth amendment[2]. They made the right choice. Won't you? Sources 1 - . http://www.smoking-facts.net... 2 - . http://en.wikipedia.org... 3 - . http://en.wikipedia.org...