smoking should be banned

Thank you for challenging me to this debate.Smoking should remain legal within the United States because the government has no control over what we do with our finances, our body, and our lives. Moreover, bans on smoking, drugs, alcohol, and other substances have failed in the past. There is therefore no reason to suggest that smoking bans will have any more success.Contention 1: Smoking bans is UnconstitutionalThe government has no control over what we do with our bodies. Indeed, smoking is bad for you. However, so is eating too much snack foods, cutting yourself, and other things that are legal.This war is unconstitutional because of the commerce clause which states [1]: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfareof the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and Post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. Nowhere does the constitution grant Congress the power to:1) Forbid the sale, possession, or use of drugs;2) Prohibit drug sales within the same states; or3) Intervene in other countries with money or troops to fight undeclared drug wars. Because we have the right to our bodies and the government has no power to stop drugs via the constution, it should remain illegal.C2: Similar Laws have FailedSimilar laws such as the war on drugs and the prohibition of alcohol have failed. In fact, it is strongly supported that the war on drugs and the prohibition of alcohol increases crime [2]. Moreover, it has done nothing to prevent the use of drugs and alcohol. There is therefore no good reason to suggest that smoking bans will work -- especially considering that humans have smoked for over 10,000 years [3]. C3: Positive EffectsIt is true that smoking is, for the most part, bad for your health. Howevver, there are positive effects of smoking:"A new study adds to the previously reported evidence that cigarette smoking protects against Parkinson's disease. Specifically, the new research shows a temporal relationship between smoking and reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. That is, the protective effect wanes after smokers quit."[4]That is one of several of the positive effects.Good luck to my opponent. References1. http://www.usconstitution.net... 2. Stossel, J. (2011) No They Can't: Why Government Fails but Individuals Succeed. 3. http://www.randomhistory.com...;4. http://www.forces.org...;