Libertarian Party candidates to pose in calendar

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Legalizing it would make alot of young impressionable minds think it would be ok to do it when right now they don't

Laughable. It's more attractive precisely because it's illegal. Young kids don't think drugs are "ok?" Why? Because a policeman came into the classroom and explained to them the syntactical significance of "Just Say No?"

Please.

[Guest RobJohnstone]

Illegal things will always target the young rebels. What I am saying is the type of kids that it doesn't market to right now, it would if it were to become legal.

 

--Rob

[Guest HecateRose]

Right now, on some level, cigarettes are available to a large majority of high schoolers, doesn't mean they all want to smoke, it could be the same with legalized marijuana

[Guest HecateRose]

No saying that I am for or against legaized Mary J, but you cannot say just because it is available that the real go getter, straight arrow school types will all of the sudden decided to go smoke pot, which odds are will be only legal at age 18,21, or something, like cigarettes and alcohol

[Guest J*ingus]

The whole argument is laughable, because in my (admittedly limited) personal experience, marijuana is actually a weaker, less impairing, less addictive drug than alcohol and nicotine.

[Guest RobJohnstone]

The whole argument is laughable, because in my (admittedly limited) personal experience, marijuana is actually a weaker, less impairing, less addictive drug than alcohol and nicotine.

That's probably because you were smoking something weak. From time to time I have been known to move a z or 2 to make some extra cash. Always premium shit. And trust me, 20% thc levels are not weak.

 

--Rob

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Right now, on some level, cigarettes are available to a large majority of high schoolers, doesn't mean they all want to smoke, it could be the same with legalized marijuana

Probably half of my graduating class smoked pot. However, almost NOBODY smoked cigarettes when I was in high school. In fact, smoking was so obscure that when we went on our Grad Nite trip to Disneyland, the rules for entering the park made a big deal about "no smoking." This was met by laughter and confusion as the thought of smoking cigarettes was so off the wall to us.

[Guest HecateRose]

What I meant was that legalizing won't necessarily mean it will target new young smokers who wouldn't ordinarily do it. It would still be illegal to them. If they haven't done it already, legalizing might not entice them to do it. I can't guarentee it wouldn't since I can't think of anything I could compare it to, but I can't believe that if they legalized it for say over 18s that every under 18 would be dying to get some, just like cigarettes, not everyone owuld be interested.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Ditto. Sure the war on drugs is a bad idea, but it's not bad enough to make me stop voting Republican. What, you want me to support the privatisation of roads instead? Now there's a fuckheaded idea if I ever heard one. And you've gotta love the ever-so-noble but terribly vague pacificism and their incessant, incomprehensible rants against the state. Not to mention the elimination of income tax. Please, spare me.

Libertarians make about as much sense as the Democrats, and they use precisely the same tactics, but thankfully they have no more influence than the so-called "Greens."

That's because they are going about it in completely the wrong way. Even if you do smash a major drug cartel, another will simply rise up in its place. What they need to do is take away the demand. Severly raise the punishment for drug usage, and target Joe Blow potsmoker. Arrest anyone, and give them enough jail time so that not only they don't do it again, but it starts to inflict fear into everyone else.

 

I don't think alcohol should be banned. Alcohol does not affect anyone but the user. I don't think it should be a defense if the person does something stupid while drunk (which it is now, at least in Canada), but the drinking of it is okay. I DO think there should be a public smoking ban. First of all, I don't care what you do in your home, it is merely in public. Second hand smoke has been proven to kill, and it is not something you can avoid easily. You can stop drinking, but you cannot stop breathing. Ottawa has banned smoking from all public buildings, bars & restaurants. I am quite happy with just that, but it should be taken national.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Second hand smoke has been proven to kill

Cite one specific study, please. Names and dates.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Andy Kaufman died from lung cancer caused by second hand smoke.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

Ahman Green developed asthma from second-hand smoke.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

I don't care about specifics but all I know is second hand smoke CAN'T be good for you. I hate smoking, if you want to pollute your lungs go ahead, but leave me out of it, I already have ashma and don't need any more breathing problems. It's one of my pet peeves, restaraunts with vaguely defined lines between the smoking and non-smoking sections. Here in Maryland, the governor has been running a "smoking stops here" campaign to encourage businesses to ban smoking. If you want to do it in your own house, fine but it's not fair to others who don't want to or deserve to inhale that crap.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Andy Kaufman died from lung cancer caused by second hand smoke.

Ahman Green developed asthma from second-hand smoke.

 

I said a study, not anecdotes.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

I get the impression Marney is a smoker.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Like, duh. But I didn't have problem with it even when I wasn't. Secondhand smoke doesn't affect me; it's an artificial hysteria.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

I've gotten sick from second-hand smoke a few times.

 

And quit smoking, we need the conservatives to live longer.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

You're sweet.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Marney, as a smoker you might not understand but to non smokers cigeratte smoke IS very irritating. You can smoke if you want, but for others especially if they already have breathing problems like asthma, second hand smoke triggers shortness of breath, choking and irritation not to mention the smell. As someone who wishes to avoid these aggravants and pollutants I wish smokers would be a little more sensitive to others in public places.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

We've had this discussion before, and reached no conclusions. It's not "sensitivity" that's the issue here, at least not for me. Why should the non-smokers' sensitivities be catered to more than the smokers'? Very few of my friends and co-workers smoke (like 1 in 15, if that) but not one of them has ever complained about my cigarettes. The question at hand is whether secondhand smoke is a significant health risk and whether you should be protected from it at the expense of others.

I get nauseated when someone wearing too much perfume passes by on the street, or when someone with bad breath speaks to me, but I don't try to throw such people in prison. (Although I admit I've been tempted.) I don't blow my smoke in other people's faces, and I resent the farcically stupid implication that I'm giving cancer to someone 20 or even 5 feet away by lighting up.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

Smoking looks really gay. That's all I need to say. It just looks very homosexual if you're not Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, or Denis Leary.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Since I am gay, I don't really have a problem with that.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

C'mon Marney, you're an intelligent person you have to know that cigerattes are dangerous, and that second hand is at least mildy irritating to all people, and dangerous to some. The only proof I can give you is myself, I have asthma. Whenever I'm in a public place and someone is smoking around me, I have to get away because it causes me to choke and become short of breath, not to mention is caushes great irritation to your eyes. I'm almost positive that studies have been done that second hand smoke even causes breathing problems like asthma. It's a shame that so many people smoke. I'm 17 and have never had any want to try a cigeratte, it has nothing to do with laughable TV campaigns, but that fact is they're disgusting, proven to cause disease and addiction meaning I'd be bound to buy more and more. I always wonder why so many kids do them. Marney, if you don't mind me asking why did you choose to start smoking and have you ever thought of quitting?

[Guest Cancer Marney]

you have to know that cigerattes are dangerous

I certainly do.

 

second hand is at least mildy irritating to all people

"Mildly irritating" would not warrant a legal ban even if it were true. I never found secondhand smoke irritating when I was a child. A good friend of my father's used to come over to visit us from Germany very frequently. He smoked a pipe all the time, and I always pleaded with him to be allowed to clean it. Not just because I liked bending the pipe-cleaners into funny shapes, but because I loved the smell of the old wood and the rich tobacco blending together. It was beautiful.

 

dangerous to some. The only proof I can give you is myself, I have asthma. Whenever I'm in a public place and someone is smoking around me, I have to get away because it causes me to choke and become short of breath, not to mention is caushes great irritation to your eyes.

This is not proof. And you have an unrelated, pre-existing condition which disqualifies your experience even as an anecdote.

No, I don't think anyone should be forced to build wheelchair ramps outside a place of business either.

 

I'm almost positive that studies have been done that second hand smoke even causes breathing problems like asthma.

"Almost positive" doesn't cut it when you're talking about a legal ban. You either have proof or you don't. Conclusive or inconclusive studies. Biased or unbiased, corroborated, and replicable research. There is none. In 1993, the EPA acted as if there were, and it was wrong.

 

[the] fact is [cigarettes are] disgusting

This is called an opinion, not a fact.

proven to cause disease and addiction

This is a fact.

 

Marney, if you don't mind me asking why did you choose to start smoking and have you ever thought of quitting?

I don't mind.

I started just because I liked the smell and I wanted something to do with my mouth when I was bored, like when I was walking down the street to go to my gym or something. (It was a 20 minute walk.) At first I recited Milton to myself but then I started getting funny looks from passersby and gum made my jaws ache after so long. So I started smoking.

It took me something like half a dozen attempts spread out over several months to be able to choke my way through an inhale, and another few weeks to get a handle on actually drawing the smoke into my lungs. (An exasperated friend who was trying to teach me finally told me to pretend I was deep-throating Patrick Stewart. It worked.)

No, I've never thought of quitting. I'm perfectly healthy, I work out, and no one I care about minds it. It causes no problems for me, socially, mentally, or physically. All the restaurants and bars I like have smoking sections. (Not that I've been able to go out very much these last few days. grrr...) I can and have forgotten to smoke for over a week on occasion simply because I'm too busy to think about it, and I've never noticed any twinges from my supposed addiction.

Why should I stop? Because I might get cancer someday? I might get cancer anyway. For that matter, I might be hit by a truck tomorrow. I'd rather concern myself with my life than my eventual death.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Ok, I appreciate your answer except I never proposed a nationwide ban. I don't know where that came from. I think if people want to smoke, let them, but there should be consideration for those who choose not to and wish not to inhale cigeratte smoke for whatever reason.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I don't like the idea of banning smoking "just" in public places either. That said, I always put out my cigarette if I'm meeting someone new and I don't know if he or she minds or not, and I always ask strangers if they mind before lighting up. It's just common courtesy.

But it shouldn't be a law.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

I don't like the idea of banning smoking "just" in public places either. That said, I always put out my cigarette if I'm meeting someone new and I don't know if he or she minds or not, and I always ask strangers if they mind before lighting up. It's just common courtesy.

But it shouldn't be a law.

I agree, that's very considerate. Some people just don't care. The only place I'd outright ban cigs are in restaraunts excluding bars. Is it REALLY that neccesarry to smoke when you're eating? Does tobacco and tar really enhance taste? Because it can certainly ruin a meal for others if the smoking/non smoking sections are right next to each other.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

The problem is, while I've never seen anyone smoking while actually eating anything (and I certainly don't do that myself), people usually have after-dinner drinks such as ports or cognacs at their table.

[Guest J*ingus]

The problem is, while I've never seen anyone smoking while actually eating anything (and I certainly don't do that myself),

I do, I did it last night in fact. Try it sometime if you're ever having a big greasy burger at some late-night dive.

[Guest HecateRose]

I smoke, have for quite a while now, but I watch out for people around me. I respect no smoking signs, and try to avoid smoking around children, it's just a courtesy I choose to partake in (and I know not everyone is polite about it). I respect businesses who choose to make their establishments non-smoking, and I am aware of who I am smoking around. I don't light up in front of people I am meeting for the first time without clearing it with them first. I did hear a story about banning smoking in public parks and such (I believe it was in New England somewhere, not sure). I think that is a bit to far myself. I also hear once (again, can't remember where) that the second hand smoke that was actually, for lack of a better word, dangerous is the smoke that comes off the end of the cigarette to where you would have to be within about 2 inches from the end and enhaling deeply to get any bad effects. Again, I cannot say where I heard that, so I cannot guarentee the validity of it. I do know that it can aggravate existing conditions, but that's all I know.