Registered: Jan 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 13002

quote:

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Smoking should be completely banned in the UK, according to a top medical journal.

The Lancet said tens of thousands of lives would be saved by making tobacco an illegal substance and possession of cigarettes a crime.

It said 80% of Britons were non-smokers, who had "the right to freedom from exposure to proven carcinogens".

An estimated 1,000 people a year in Britain died from inhaling second-hand tobacco smoke, its editorial claimed.

Smokers group Forest greeted The Lancet's call with "amusement and disbelief".

It said: "Like it or not, people choose to smoke, just as they choose to drink alcohol, eat certain types of food, or take part in extreme sports."

BBC News

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Shreveport, LA
Posts: 2938

make it illegal and you'll have people running it the same as pot. watch and see. tobacco is not going anywhere.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 4501

New York City had to pay New York state quite a bit of money after their tax situation went kaput due to their smoking policies. Illinois lost quite a bit of revenue with recent hikes lately, as my friends and I have been traveling down to Kentucky to buy cigarettes a few times a month. $16 for a carton there; $27 here. Some tax is needed and reasonable, but too much is insane. I agree with the Forest spokesman who said that tobacco-related deaths do not cost as much as the tobacco taxes provide.

And, still, how many smokers also eat a poor diet? Take no exercise? Live in regions and towns with high pollution rates? Have pre-existing medical conditions? WIth all the jabs scientists make at the liberal arts, I would like to see them stick to their own guns, and at least attempt to remove the variables, if they declare studies "scientific." Otherwise, all such studies should contain the disclaimer (instead of a claim) that smoking may lead to certain diseases or death.

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