I'm asking this because in the "should cannabis be legalized" some people voiced they thought cigarettes should be outlawed as well.

Personally, I think people should be allowed to choose to kill themselves with Cancer sticks. ;o)

In all seriousness-- there are worse things. Like heroin.

Even though I chose that cannabis should be legal I just want my mom to quit smoking. I guess my choice is personal.

People will smoke, regardless. About 45% of the U.S.A. was "built on tobacco." I do not like the idea of people smoking. I quit, myself, over 2 years ago. The only thing I see happening is most businesses ban smoking from most, if not ALL, parts of business buildings and only have certain outside areas designated for smokers. Our local hospital has that. Certain outside places designated for smokers.

If you don't like cigarettes, don't smoke them. Don't make it illegal for others. That's crazyness! (And for the record, I hate cigarettes.. I wish my mom and my boyfriend would both quit already...)

I dont smoke and i hate it to death especially when people are around me smoking, they dont even care.

well if you ban them, then no one in the next generation will smoke them & probably won`t want to!

California has pretty much outlawed smoking and hardly anybody smokes out here. That's probably just because they're all smoking pot. In California, you get ticketed for having weed and severely fined for smoking within 40 yards of a building's entrance.

Smoking is stupid and I think stupidity should be outlawed. "You must be this smart to ride this nation."

I think several of you have bought the bumper sticker slogans without doing your homework...

I HATE SOMEKING IT DESTROYS LIVES

Actually, I'm for legalizing pot but I don't understand how people here are for marijuana legalization but against cigarette-smoking. A joint does three times the damage to a person's lungs than a cigarette. "You must be smart enough to ride this nation,"? How about just getting your facts straight?

Look, I understand the concern about second-hand smoke and I'm for cigarettes being banned in restaurants. But when I'm at home, I have a right to do whatever I want regarding my own body. When you start dictating people's personal choices, you open the flood gates and risk all the freedoms that people in this country take for granted.

Just the fact that they pollute everyone's air and lungs makes me want to personally stamp out every lit one.
They make everyone's health care go up too. Make insurance payments higher. Destroy lives.
I'm sorry. Go and eat all the Krispy Kremes that you want. That affects only you. My air, lungs and wallet are not bothered by that at all.

In the US, it would be unconstitutional, I'm sorry but it would be.

Again I say (to the wall, obviously) that some of you need to do your homework rather than buy cute slogans at face value.

I am a very receptive wall. :o)

i hate cigarettes and smoking, but you cant outlaw it...it would be like outlawing alcohol....if you do it to one, you would have to do it to the other

They are harmful to people around the smoker. They are just an addictive moneymaker for the Tobacco industry, and i personally feel anyone who does smoke is extremely stupid. (Sorry to offend anyone, its just the way i feel.)

If it were up to me, no one would smoke. But people should be allowed to make decisions ( No matter how harmful or unhealthy) for themselves, because thats freedom.

These are not "cute slogans," they are facts. It IS a fact that everyone's building insurance and health insurance costs go up when people smoke. It does pollute air and, therefore lungs. How can you call these hard facts, proven over and over by studies, "cute slogans?"

We outlaw marijuana, crack, heroin, hallucinogens, etc because they are DANGEROUS! And stupid. So are cigarettes. Why do we need these harmful substances outlawed?
Because they never just affect you! To think that is so self-centered and totally ignorant.

Kate, there is a difference between a public smoking ban and outlawing cigarettes all-together.

At least with a public ban, that helps the air and the public who don't want to smoke, but allows smokers to do so. In that case, cigarettes actually don't affect people.

(I'm actually against the ban as well, but I can understand why people might be for a ban but against outlawing them).

Kate, alcohol also does not just affect the person who drinks, so should we outlaw that as well? Do you understand that approximately every 15 minutes somebody dies in an alcohol-related car accident? Personally, alcohol is more dangerous than cigarettes. At least you can control yourself when you're smoking.

smoking may be a choice but the thing is it will kill all those who are exposed to the smoke.

I've said this in the smoking ban pick, but I'll say it again. It's your life, screw it up if you really want to, but don't screw up mine in the process.

Agreed ThinkPink. I hate having to walk out of the grocery store and have my babies breath that crap and in ID it is supposed to be illegal to smoke at entrances, but that doesn't seem to stop people. I think that there should be designated areas for people to smoke that way I can choose to avoid that area and my kids don't have to have their lungs polluted. Personally I think that if people are going to smoke they should be able to do it in their homes, but not in public, but if I had to make a choice between Yes or No I pick yes.

Actually, children of parents who both smoke have LESS instances of asthma and related problems by a huge margin than children of parents who do not smoke.

Like I said. Do your homework. I posted a link in the links section back a few months ago to some opposing scientific facts. Find it. Educate yourselves.

I am going to have to say no, it shouldnt be outlawed, and that is not just because I am a smoker. I agree that there shouldnt be smoking in resturaunts and other public places but people should still be able to smoke outside, in their vehicles and in their own home. If cigarettes were outlawed we would have the same problem we have now with marijuana, people wouldnt stop b/c it was illegal.

Another thing is, what would be the adverse affects be if it was banned. Banning it wouldn't stop people from doing it, however it may stop SOME people from taking it up. The crime rate would definetly go up as smoking would now be taken into the equation.

I don't smoke cigs but hell, Smoke them all you want, thats your deal.

Here our goverment gets a lot of it's money from taxes on cigarettes. The country will go bankrupt if they made it illegal. So I would say that outlawing cigarettes would be a very stupid move.

I don't drive a car, so I would like everyone who does, to stop doing it because it pollutes my air and damages my lungs. Why should my lungs be damaged by other peoples fumes?

but more highly restricted.

I have to say yes because of what it does to people....

Only because if it was outlawed here in the UK, then taxes would go up and taxes are already really high.

Although smoking is a dirty habit ;)

From all the countries,in my opinion.

Like Saap said: Cigarettes are not the only thing that we come in contact with on a daily basis that pollute the air and cause our lungs damage. If you're going to outlaw cigarettes, logic says to outlaw buses, cars, factories, certain paints.

If you completely outlaw cigarettes, you're restricting people's personal rights and severely damaging (again, as Saap said) the economy. Outlawing them wouldn't make people stop smoking (kinda like how making prostitutes and marijuana illegal didn't stop too many people from using them).

OF course not, you can't force people who are addicted to this to just quit. It would just create a bigger problem, like it did in both America and Norway when alcohol was banned. Then again... I also thin we should legalize cannabis...

I don't know about other countries, but smoking should be legal in the United States as a constitutional right. You are allowed to do what you want with your life, even if you do it smelling like car exhaust.

Now if we could get pregnant women to stop smoking, THAT I would vote for.

I'm absolutely against the banning of cigarettes.

Cigarettes are harmful when abused but when used in moderation, they can alleviate anxiety and schizophrenia.

Also, remember, cigarettes are creating an economic stimulus. People will pay through the nose for pack of smokes. If I were smart politician, I'd squeeze every dollar out of smoker's wallet to keep the state going, the cigarette businesses pumping and smokers semi-happy (by the way, it isn't fair paying all that money for a smoke but when you have an urge, gotta do what you gotta do).

@ducky8abug4u. Cigarettes are harmful when abused but when used in moderation, they can alleviate anxiety and schizophrenia. - Perhaps you should link an article, otherwise no-one will believe you. You can't something like that, without at least adding a link for it. Also, yes, economically-wise is makes money... But, is that worth the thousands of people per year that die from it?

Anyway, I smoke. I wish it would be outlawed, because that would give me a major motivation to give up. I don't like smoking - I do it because I'm addicted and can't motivate myself to give up. But, it will never be outlawed - tobacco companies make WAY too much money for them to even consider the possibility and the government will find it hard-pressed to stop them. The fact is, it is all about money. I'll add something else, too. Some people have said it is someone's constitutional right again - that may be so, but 'constitutional rights' seem to do more harm than good. I don't think smoking should be made illegal, I think all tobacco plants and seeds should be destroyed - that way no-one can 'illegally' grow it. As Kateliness said 'We outlaw marijuana, crack, heroin, hallucinogens, etc because they are DANGEROUS! And stupid. So are cigarettes. Why do we need these harmful substances outlawed?' - because they harm people. Tobacco is just as harmful, or more so, than most of these and just as addictive.
Also, people said that it would ruin us financially and economically - well, I have a simple solution for that. Promote the smoking of 'marijuana cigarettes', instead. It is less harmful and they would be able to be taxed. Besides, if most of the 1st world was stupid enough to allow such a dangerous thing to become the major part of their economics, then they deserve to lose that part of their economical system. Just think about - all tobacco companies care about is making money. The government tax it, because that is the only way that they can make something off of it and one way that they can claim that it makes it not quite so bad. But, the truth is, that doesn't make it any better. People die from it!!! Just like with alcohol - the wto are dangerous and need to be outlawed (tobacco) and monitored (alcohol).

"'constitutional rights' seem to do more harm than good."

I'm hoping the quotes here mean something, because I believe in the constitution. Do the quotes mean that you're talking about people using the 'right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness' to justify self-destructive behavior? I wouldn't say that toking the odd joint or, yes, even enjoying the odd cigarette is necessarily self-destructive. Years ago, when this question was asked, DrDevience posted several sources addressing a lot of myths about cigarettes. If you search the spot I'm sure you'll find them in the links section.

And whoa whoa whoa, hands off my reisling. Wine and beer are entwined with our culture, as well as spirits to a lesser extent. Some alcohols even have health benefits when consumed in moderation. Rather than demonizing the substance, let's address the matter of addiction for what it is - a disease, and not one cause by the legality or illegality of a substance. Outlawing it - or further extremes, destroying any trace of it - is definitely not the answer to treating addiction and health issues. Rather, decriminalizing use and making addiction a public health issue is proven to be more successful. In ten years after decriminalization, Portugal managed to cut its addiction rates in half [Source: link].

As with most things, I never believe extremes are the solution. You cannot destroy all tobacco plants. I agree that these sorts of things should be regulated. However, people are under the impression that outlawing drugs is controlling them, but really when you outlaw something you give up your right to control it, to regulate it.

I am not a cigarette smoker, although I have indulged in shisha (or hookah as the Americans term it), once again as part of a cultural experience. I picked up the habit in Egypt and still don't regret it. I'm not addicted - I haven't smoked a pipe in years, nor do I have the urge to do so at this moment - but when old friends from Egypt come visit, or indeed when I go back, it is an activity in which I like to partake. There are healthy ways to indulge in tobacco, just as there are healthy ways to indulge in marijuana and alcohol.

NO. Where you can suck them should be the question. No one should be allowed to suck a cigarette wherever there are other people

@Cinders. I just happen to find it rather intriguing that people always use that term to justify their own failings. Like with the poll about whether recycling should be mandatory - that was used to justify why it shouldn't be - but that's just an excuse so people can be lazy.

Anyway, yes, it was an extreme idea, but you have no idea how much I despise smoking now - I hate these stupid tobacco companies ever introduced the idea of consumer tobacco consumption - it really makes me mad. If they hadn't spent plenty of years advocating it, then I could have avoided the habit in the first place - the whole reason I started was because people said it was cool - I tried it and realised that I thought I was cool - two years later = addicted. Yes, this is partially my own failing, too, but it's a bit too late for that now. Anyway, to cut it short, I guess we can't outlaw it, so it doesn't really matter what I think anyway. Bearing in mind, that my argument wasn't an argument, it was merely wishful thinking and what I would like to happen, even though I admitted in the middle of it that it won't get outlawed.

While cigarettes are harmful and bad for your health, banning them will cause more problems than they will solve. If people are really addicted, they'll go to great lengths to "get their fix."