Smoking Ban

As per the rules, I will be using this round to present my arguments, and will be using the next round to provide rebuttals against my opponent's arguments.ARGUMENTS1) Crime IncreaseFrom a historical standpoint, laws that prohibit the use of popular drugs have led to a significant in crime. This is true for both the current war on drugs, and Prohibition, which began in the early 1920s in the United States. As a consequence of increased crime during prohibition, millions of Americans were turned into criminals, resulting in an overflow of the legal system[1].Is this different from smoking? Not really. According to the CDC, "...an estimated 40 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes."[2]. Even a fraction of that number would be a huge business opportunity for gangs who intend to sell these substances in the black market. On top of that, drug-war related deaths are extremely high. Approximately 85 000 people have been killed since Mexico's launch of the drug-war[3].2) Tax RevenueThe legality of smoking allows the US government to generate billions of dollars in tax revenue. In 2013, over 4 billion dollars was made from taxes on cigarettes[4]. By banning cigarettes, the government loses its ability to impose taxes on them, as well as its ability to monitor and regulate usage (such as age restrictions). If smoking became a big problem, the government could simply increase taxes on cigarettes. This limits the number of users (by increasing costs), but also limits the operations of black-market sellers (because people are pressured to choose legal options over illegal ones).3) Ease of Access would not be Affected muchSince I've been comparing the smoking ban proposal to the current situation with Marijuana quite a bit, I'll be carrying that analogy over here as well. According to PewResearch, "Nearly half (49%) of Americans say they have tried marijuana"[5]. That means nearly half (which is about 156 million people) of America's population knows how to gain access this substance. So, going back to the idea of smoking, it is more than likely that millions of Americans will be able to get access to the substance despite issues related to legality.4) Freedom of Choice/Personal LibertyPeople should be able to decide whether or not smoking is prohibited from their property or not. This means that if someone decides that others may smoke in their property, they should be able to do that without a third party overruling that decision. If someone inside that property is not comfortable with second-hand smoke, they have the right to leave, but they do not have the right to prohibit smoking in someone else's property.That being said, the opposite situation can also be true. If a property owner decides to ban cigarettes from their property, they should be able to do so, and they have the right to kick out anybody that doesn't abide by those rules.An overall ban, however, enforced by the federal government, impedes these rights of property owners, and is therefore, not a good idea.Sources[1] http://www.pbs.org...[2] http://www.cdc.gov...[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com...[4] http://www.taxpolicycenter.org...[5] http://www.pewresearch.org...