The production and consumption of cigarettes should be stopped

Thanks for the quick response. With university and work I am rather busy and I hope you don't mind that I sometimes rather freely use the time available for me to reply // I am now posting my unfinished draft, I have had laying around for a while and apologize honestly for that. I hope I can return with more quality for my next turn. 1 | Re-iteration It's quite fine that you choose to re-iterate your original statement because it still says the same as it used to. I would decline any actual changes because it would make this debate messy; not because I am generally picky ;) 2 | The Health Risks of Cigarettes My opponent provided a solid argumentation about the approximately 3000 components of a cigarette that have negative effects on the smokers overall health and the known 69 that raise the cancer risk directly [1]. It would be embarrassing for me if I'd try to explain that there are enough or even any physical health benefits of smoking that justify this habit and I doubt that I anyone can be taken serious that argues that. I fully agree with your facts that major part of the smoking habit is an active threat for health. There is a small fact that body cells renew [2] and that a moderate amount of damage is something the body is meant to deal with. As soon as someone is addicted or dependent most things become a threat the body cannot deal with anymore (Alcoholism, Sport, etc.) The main problem of cigarettes here is, that you are much easier to fall into addiction and the damage becomes therefore earlier worse. That this addiction risk is higher does not automatically means we need to illegalize them; it means people need to be more sensible for this risk and take it in account. 3 | Smokers don't like the taste either Taste is something that changes with time Like you might have not liked coffee, even with a lot milk and sugar, when you were a kid, you might now enjoy the taste. I don't want to encourage testing any probably addictive substance morally, but as this argument was rather perception and not fact based I feel like sharing my own experience of an interesting mind change between being an cigarette Virgin an the first time without becoming a Smoker. Two years ago I could not stand the taste of beer and wine so I did not drink alcohol at all. Lately I tried a crafty beer again and surprisingly enjoyed the taste. From a personal point I can honestly say that it's not true that you can only like cigarettes once you are addicted. 4 | Heroine and Morphine over the counter Heroine and Morphine are rather young drugs for most western societies and don't have a cultural base. Meanwhile Smoking and Alcohol are certainly harmful but they have a tradition. This is not a general argument against a cigarette ban, but it gives an additional reason why it is more difficult to ban than younger substances. Heroine for example has no relationship to a persons tradition, while smoking for Turkish people is certainly related to a century old culture [3]. I should research, how much this goes for native Americans. An additional thought to the problem of Heroine/LSD/Mushrooms compared to cigarettes: The availability of Marijuana in some states or the Netherlands is a good example that the legal lines for non-synthetic drugs are difficult to set: it's the government's duty to protect their citizens but it's not their duty to protect them from themselves People that smoked a cigarette are not delusional to point where they are incapable of having a proper perception of reality and a threat to their environment. That's something that might happen with Heroine or (sometimes) Morphine or LSD. That's were one's own personal decisions become a societies problem (this argument is continued in 6| The fine line) 5 | Economical effects Just because something can be economically abolished, because it's not of actual benefit or value it does not mean it should be. Decoration and Fashion is usually just environmental-harming rubbish without any practical benefit yet a responsible amount is pleasuring enough to the eyes and emotionally beneficial to regard the moral problem an the personal benefit as balanced. 6 | The fine line It's absolutely correct for the government to protect their citizens, from smokers: - Smoking in front of children and smoking while pregnant needs to be legally considered as a strong case of child abuse - Smoking in public indoor places needs to be legally prevented - Organ Donations for Smokers needs to be controlled and if necessary rejected But its not the government's right to prevent smokers from themselves - An adult has every right to smoke as much in privet as they want. - Especially people who consider smoking as part of their cultural inheritance - Cigars, Pipes, etc. All are part of the 'problem' tobacco. But have a higher cultural acceptances. 7 | Personal Perception or a different way to think about it Just because smoking is not in any way necessary, tasty or relevant to you personally it's part of cultural diversity and one's right to engage responsibility into risk. I consider myself as someone who engages into smoking and drinking for the same reasons that I read books, have sex, eat sushi, watch movies, exercise and listen to music: for pleasure and diversity. Not all of these things are benefit for my health and some are potentially to absolutely harmful; but I if I can engage in all these things responsibly and knowing about the risks I can choose a limit that will keep the damage to a minimum that I am willing to take. Adults don't need to be babied by the government. Responsibility is something we need to learn and and be allowed to embrace, because it is required for desicions like voting and participating in democracy. I don't want to promote the classical americanised slogan of "freedom" because that would be too easy. But one's body is ones own. And as long as one can keep a habit from from harming others, there is no need to illegalize it. While it also does not mean that harming others should be legal. But like for smoking, drinking, driving and having a electric saw, these things are separateable.