No one in this country is forced to smoke.
If they want to suck on a butt stick let 'em. Just don't come crying to the government when you lungs say, "fvck it. I quit."
People should be allowed to legally smoke marijuana too since drugs like tobacco and alcohol are legal.
Cigarettes are an addictive substance far harder to quit than even heroine. Tobacco companies have a long tradition of marketing their products to children. It is at that stage in life that the majority of smokers are captured. It's a sad fact that such a highly addictive, and dangerous when used as directed substance can be purchased by a child.
How would you feel if a multi-
billion trillion dollar company ... or even The Taleban for example was legally able to addict your little girl to heroine at her age? You're right no
ONE forces people to smoke, but some
THING does. That thing is called a physical addiction, and for the vast majority of smokers that physical addiction ...not a psychological one, but the physical one wherein their brains physically require nicotine in order to function properly, started at a young age when they were most vulnerable.
There
is a lot of hypocrisy in the system. Canada is on the path to talking the right steps though. Tobacco sales now are restricted to those 19 and over, and you have to be carded in order to buy any tobacco products. This has been in place for at least the last 12 yrs to my knowledge. By law, cigarette packs must also devote at least 50% of the packaging to dire warnings of the consequences of smoking, they must also include a separate warning sheet within the package itself, and the latest measure is to completely cover all tobacco products from view of the consumer.
Any of you visitors to Ontario might notice that behind the counter of pretty much every convenience store will appear what looks like a blank wall of horizontal files. No more tobacco display racks are permitted. Out of sight... out of mind. And all the taxes paid (500% tax per pack) go into healthcare. I guess the reasoning being... if you're going to slowly kill yourself, ...we're going to make you pay for your eventual inevitable healthcare costs upfront, ...unless you're status native aboriginal who aren't taxed on tobacco.
