Smoking

[snubbles]

night star i totally agree with everything you said you are truly a respectable person not to radical not to liberal not to conservative. a happy medium is all i ask for

[hund]

well im a smoker. I like to smoke, i dont have to. Smoking relaxes me. If you had my job you would agree with me. Now to say that smokers are killing millions everyday, fine say that, but car accidents, wars, AIDS, etc. kill millions everyday but no one said that. Now, I dont smoke around someone if they dont like it, I will move or hold off on my smoking. To deny me of medical attention is like denying someone if they didnt have insurance, is that fair to deny that person if they CANT afford medical insurance. No its not fair, its wrong. So if someone CANT quit somking, it would be wrong to deny them medical attention. Also, weed? COME ON, half of you guys smoke weed. There is nothing wrong with it, sh*t, no has died from weed, so why is it bad? exactly.

[Chrissi]

Also, weed? COME ON, half of you guys smoke weed.

I doubt it. I don't know any forum regular who does weed. Sure a couple of people with less than 50 posts might pop up and say "I do weed!" but really, I don't know any potheads on the forum.

[jazzmosis]

The problem with your suggestion, Nightstar: If you legalize EVERY drug and put ridiculous taxes, it will simply encourage people to commit more crimes to AFFORD the drug. Plus, what kind of a message are you sending to young people saying "everything that can kill you is now legal!" Why don't you just give mandatory herion shots instead of Hep-B shots at school?

Can you imagine the mortality rate, when it's legalized and junkies don't think they need to quit? Can you imagine, the drug market rising? Can you imagine the amount of legal backlash every other country in the world would give you? Can you imagine the amount of smuggling of drugs out of the country?

If anything, the government(s) need to make it MORE difficult to get your hands on drugs. You can't die from an OD if there's no drugs to OD on.

Drugs RUIN your life. Why promote that by making it legal?

[NaOTa4231]

people will continue to smoke no matter what. We have so many idiots today, and no matter how many times we tell people how bad smoking is they will continue.

[snubbles]

If anything, the government(s) need to make it MORE difficult to get your hands on drugs

no matter what you do drugs will be available so we are fighting a pointless and very costly war. and about the message you are sending to kids... educaions is the key. if you properly educate someone at the right age they are way less likely to do drugs.

[jazzmosis]

By making drugs legal though, it's saying that "why bother being educated".

Considering the enormous crime wave that would follow, not to mention the mass protests, global dismay, and endless drug addictions, it would cost the world more money to legalize it than to fight it.

Smoking doesn't necessarily have anything to do with smarts (although that can be argued otherwise.) You could be a smart guy/girl that hangs out with idiots.. then peer pressure takes over, and you're wrapped in a cycle of drugs and cigarattes for the rest of your life. That is, if it's legal. Why quit?

No good could come of legalizing drug use.

[snubbles]

i think on a political level it would be smart but on a personal level on how it would affect each individual it is a bad idea

[Anticrombie0909]

The Drug war is the most costly and unproductive endeavor ever attempted by the US. It's been waging for years, agents are being killed, and millions of federal money is going down the drain. Nightstar practically stole the words out of my mouth, I was planning on writing almsot exactly the same thing, but he beat me to it. We need to make money off drugs, not spend it.

Also, for those of you saying people would be able to get their hands on too many, have you ever considered that if the drugs were in our possession, we would be able to regulate their sale and use? We wouldn't let people buy 3 cartons of Pot like you can cigarettes.

[Tank101]

well im a smoker. I like to smoke, i dont have to. Smoking relaxes me. If you had my job you would agree with me. Now to say that smokers are killing millions everyday, fine say that, but car accidents, wars, AIDS, etc. kill millions everyday but no one said that. Now, I dont smoke around someone if they dont like it, I will move or hold off on my smoking. To deny me of medical attention is like denying someone if they didnt have insurance, is that fair to deny that person if they CANT afford medical insurance. No its not fair, its wrong. So if someone CANT quit somking, it would be wrong to deny them medical attention. Also, weed? COME ON, half of you guys smoke weed. There is nothing wrong with it, sh*t, no has died from weed, so why is it bad? exactly.

Car accidents happen because people need cars, the need to drive, nobody needs to smoke even though you may think you do. Wars are a part of life, people die for our freedom and though I'm not 100% for wars, there's not much we can do about it (especially as long as Bush is president). And as for AIDS, if people want to have unprotected sex with every person in town then who cares, as long as their not raping there is nothing we can do about it.

[hund]

NaOTa4231 are you calling me an idiot for smokking? Guess I should get kicked out of the Marine Corps cause Im an idiot.

Tobacco is a cash crop, it was grown so America could have a start in the New World, if you remember history. This cash crop is part of America, just like hot apple pie and baseball games. Now for all you non-smokers, if you walk into an area where there are smokers smokking, LEAVE THE AREA. For all the smokers, if you want to smoke and there are non-smokers around, LEAVE THE AREA. Now we can all get along.

[DracIV]

Okay, hund, you've given me some nice openings. First of all, smoking does NOT relax you. In fact, it is a STIMULANT. ANY activity to take your mind off your life would feel equally as "relaxing," but things like playing chess or hobbys actually let you relax and are healthy, whereas smoking is dangerous to you and everyone, costs money both directly (for packs) and indirectly (lowered property prices from smell/discoloring) and destroys your health mentally and physically.

Next, there is a major different between car accidents, war, AIDS, etc. and smoking.
1. Car accidents are ACCIDENTS. They aren't meant to happen, but we can't avoid them
2. War is something that has defined human kind for millenia. It's not a good thing most times, but it can be very important to removing evil/enemies from the world.
3. AIDS is an epidemic. There is a huge amount of research going on in an attempt to stop the spread of AIDS, approx. 80 million have died from AIDS already, and 20 million children have been orphaned. AIDS is a very serious threat and it is NOT, I repeat NOT just a disease that "slutty" people get. Besides the ability to go hidden for years- your spouse could have AIDS for all you know, AIDS is transferred in many other ways besides sex. Mothers have a 40% chance to transfer AIDS to their children prior to birth, during birth, or through breastfeeding, the chance of transfer through sex is 1 to 3%, resusing infected needles results in infection <1% of the time, and blood transfusion causes AIDS 100% of the time. The last one there is the most important because AIDS is almost impossible to detect until the very late stages that can be multiple years coming. If you get in a car accident and need a blood transfusion, and the donor had AIDS but didnt know it you are 100% garunteed to have AIDS now. AIDS may transfer through many things considered "taboo," but it should not be ignored because of that. AIDS transfers in chains (your husband who had the transfusion with the AIDS virus might give it to you, and then you give it to your kids) and has even more devastating effects on the families of those who die. In Africa, the orphaned children who cannot find homes in already-poverty-stricken areas roam in bands just outside the cities, performing acts like those in The Lord of the Flies daily. Towns become devastated, families are ripped apart, innocent and immoral alike suffer. This is not just a problem for people who "sleep around town" to quote a person farther up in the thread. Too much information? Yeah. Does it matter enough to give too much info? Yes.

As you can see, smoking is not like any of those. Cigarettes are the crappiest things ever, so that just makes smokers worst. Smoking cigars and such occasionally has been accepted in general, but smoking cigarettes regularly is just the most idiotic thing ever. The addiction to cigarettes is actually very weak, and you could get the same feeling from the *cheaper* patches/gums to help you get off your addiction without doing vast amounts of damage. Hund, I suggest you take up a hobby that actually helps you and start taking a patch/gum to get off the addiction (or continue feeding it if you are so obsessed with the feel), but stop destroying yourself, other people, your property, and your income.

[virus-maker]

The problem with your suggestion, Nightstar: If you legalize EVERY drug and put ridiculous taxes, it will simply encourage people to commit more crimes to AFFORD the drug. Plus, what kind of a message are you sending to young people saying "everything that can kill you is now legal!" Why don't you just give mandatory herion shots instead of Hep-B shots at school?

Can you imagine the mortality rate, when it's legalized and junkies don't think they need to quit? Can you imagine, the drug market rising? Can you imagine the amount of legal backlash every other country in the world would give you? Can you imagine the amount of smuggling of drugs out of the country?

If anything, the government(s) need to make it MORE difficult to get your hands on drugs. You can't die from an OD if there's no drugs to OD on.

Drugs RUIN your life. Why promote that by making it legal?

Your an idiot. You said that legalizing the drugs would encourage more crime? If drugs were legal, there would be LESS crime, because it would be cheaper and you can just buy it legally. The reason there is crime because of drugs is because its too damn expensive from illegal drug dealers, so they steal to get their drugs. If its cheaper, they wont steal, they could afford it. Actually, according to statistics, America is one of the few countries that has outlawed marijuana, but it has the highest percentage of people that have tried marijuana. Now im not saying ALL drugs should be legal, but marijuana should be legalized, taxed, regulated, and made only illegal for kids.

[DracIV]

Highest percentage that have tried? How the hell do you know? It's ILLEGAL, so you WOULDN'T know. And that doesn't mean America has the highest % of users, just highest % of people trying it to see why it is illegal and largest culture that endorses it (ghetto culture)

[hund]

Patches are expensive, plus I like to smoke. It does relax me because I train for war. I just got out of the field today and it was stressful to be out there. Have you ever gone without a shower for a few days? Have you ever had to wear the same sweaty, sandy uniform for days on end with flak, kevlar helmet, rifle, 782 gear? Have you ever ate MREs 3 times a day for a few weeks? I have and smokking takes all that bullshi* off my mind. Alot of my Marine buddies smoke, but we also run atleast 10 miles a week and do other types of physical actives (pushups, sprints, pullup, etc). Have you ever done that? Dont bash the smokers.

Also, everyone destroys there bodies in other ways besides smokking. Caffine is harmful to your bodies and Im sure alot of those who read this are drinking a soda and just sit on their a$$es all day infront of a TV or computer eating their McDonalds and dont do much physical actives at all.

So now look at yourselfs. I am a smoker that is in better shape than most of the people on FFR, granted there are a few of you that do physical actives, but not as much as me.