If cigarettes and alcohol are bad for you, WHY are they not illegal???
923613
Because the government makes a lot of money from them. Alchohol actually has some health benefits in moderation. Tobacco is just a big money maker
261386
I will start off by stating that I think smoking is definitely a health risk, but so is alcohol consumption and many foods and chemicals. However, to state that you don't like people who smoke or that smoking is "gay" is ignorant! Smoking is NOT the number one cause of death nor is second hand smoke. Heart attacks and strokes account for the most number of deaths per year. The risks of drinking alcohol are just as high if not higher than smoking. Drinking causes the loss of brain cells, enlargement of the heart, liver failure, accidents, damage to kidneys etc. Alcohol is also very obnoxious smelling!! I would rather smell the slight scent of tobacco on a person than the scent of alcohol seeping out of a drinkers pores and from their breath. I just answered a question about people who litter with their cigarette butts and I will paste part of my response to that question........\n\nPeople want to believe that smoking and second hand smoke are the only causes of lung cancer, but researchers have NO way of proving that people who have never smoked developed lung cancer from second hand smoke. When they do their so called tests, they use HIGHLY concentrated amounts of cigarette smoke to try and prove their case. They know that the factories and vehicles spew out the same and worse toxins, in far larger quantities, than a cigarette, but because of the expense of forcing those two things to be made safer, they choose to ignore them for the most part and concentrate on a relatively small part of the population. Plus they can pass bills to outrageously raise taxes on cigarettes to help generate money whenever they need more money. I haven't seen them raising taxes on ALL alcohol to help generate more money, even though hundreds of people die due to drunk drivers each year. I don't see them banning alcohol in all public places to help reduce the amount of deaths caused by drunk drivers. More people die (proven) each year as the result of drunk drivers than by smokers. They don't try to pass a bill that will raise the taxes on alcohol because there are MORE drinkers in this country than smokers and the bill would never pass, so they target a smaller group (cigarette smokers) and create almost mass hysteria about second hand smoke, so that non smokers will pass through the bill. Smokers are discriminated against all the time. They are even considered a bad risk by employers because researchers claim that smokers will be out sick more often than a non smoker. Drinkers miss more work due to illness, being drunk and to hangovers than smokers miss each year. Drinkers can also cause more work related accidents by going into work drunk or with a hangover.Yes, cigarette smoking can cause cancer,but so can many foods, environmental things and chemicals, but they don't place outrageous taxes on them. The people paid to do the research on cigarette smoking and second hand smoke are paid (subsidized) by the government to bring in the right statistics. They keep trying, using more and more concentrated smoke, until they arrive at the statistic that is wanted. It is no different than when they feed rats more of something than a human could consume in a lifetime and when the rat finally shows signs of cancer or any other disease, they claim it to be a health risk to humans. The majority of smokers do NOT develop lung cancer and the majority of people who live with smokers do NOT develop lung cancer. Statistics can be manipulated to prove whatever people want them to prove. Our government is not above manipulating facts and statistics to get what they want! With cigarette smokers they have found a minority group that they can tax to produce more revenue. By making non smokers see them as lepers, they have guaranteed that any new tax will pass. So when I see people carrying on about cigarettes , I feel the need to get on my soapbox and speak out. People need to realize that today the smokers are the target, but since it wor
1151602
You have a valid argument. (And I am not in favour of drugs, to make that quite clear.) There are many bad substances that are legal, and others are not. It is all down to political blindness, or at best tunnel vision.\nIf the now illegal drugs would be legalised, the criminal element attached to them would fall by the wayside. Just as it did in 1933 after the prohibition of alcohol was lifted. Never has there been more alcohol consumed in the USA (for very high prices) as during the prohibition years. That should tell us.\nUnfortunately our politicians never learn anything from History.
1052388
yes I smoke weed every day.  I love it.. and it helps me relax and meditate and just enjoy myself..\ni don't understand why it's illegal.. especially for medicinal purposes.  also, compare the effects of alcohol to the effects of marijuana. just the fact that you can be physically addicted to one and not the other.. and overdose and die on one rather than the other.. it is just amazing that alcohol can be legal
996643
No, if booze and cigerettes just came out today, they would be just as illegal as pot. They are all bad for you. Also, the government makes too much money by keeping it illegal. If they said it was ok, they couldn't keep all the money, cars, etc., that they took away from all the people that they catch.
382209
Marijuana is illegal because, unlike alcohol, when used even in moderation, it is mind-altering. And even though it has some medical benefits in certain circumstances, the FDA would never approve it due to the harmful side affects from it being an inhalant.\n\nIn layman's terms, one beer will not have a mind-altering affect on you while one toke from a joint will.
323935
Herb is illegal because of its ability to "gateway" individuals onto other stronger addictions. No matter what anyone tells your "herb" is a drug and is addicting, it puts pressure on the backs of the eyes, giving the impression of (stoned) (or chinked eyed) and speeds the bodies endomorphins up, (the bodies natural defense for pain) chemical alcohol is legal only because they can tax it and herb they cannot, in your defense, it should be legal, but they cant tax it and its america... so ......
878196
Government hates to loose money like that. OH, NO\nThey will never make it illegal. They want our tax money to support their lifestyles.\nRemember when alcohol was illegal in the old days?
912152
Smoking is bad for your health - period.
1134999
Because alcohol and tobacco are already in place and have been giving the government money forever, where as the government did not know that it would be such a good commodity.  Check out the difference between using paper and hemp.  Hemp is better all around, for environment, cost, everything and why is it they use paper and not hemp, that is right money!!!  It is crazy, but the government does not put laws in place (like alcohol and tobacco) to look out for you, so the fact that it has never caused a death is unimportant to them, the important fact is that it would be easy for people to grow their own and then the government would not make any money with it so it has to be illegal.  Sucks right, you have to love our for the money by the money government!!!
34706
I think that it's absolutely pointless that it's illegal.  Prohibition didn't stop people from drinking alcohol, it only made it more dangerous for all of the people who were already drinkers.  The only reason I see for continuing to keep marijuana illegal is to supply more people with jobs in law enforcement and in the penal system.
346279
Don't it's illegal and bad for you.
159090
If you drink too much Alcohol, you become labeled an Alcoholic. But that doesn't affect me unless you get behind the wheel of a car...\n\nAs for Cigarettes, they just make you stink,(especially when I have to walk through it on my way into the mall, grocery store, drug store, etc...) and the smoke then pollutes the air, my lungs, my friends lungs, family, pets, etc... Who cares about what the smoker is doing to themselves!\n\nSo, I'd have to say they both rank as the same evils in my book.
874294
Smoking is illegal under age 18.  Why should you be allowed to do something illegal?\n\nYou need to focus on your studies so you learn to spell, use proper grammar and punctuate your sentences correctly.  Obviously, you have problems in these areas because you are overly concerned with smoking.  \n\nInstead of pushing for the illegal right to smoke, you should be asking for successful methods of quitting, and do that.\n\nSue
1124497
Because it is not. Smoking is not healthy yet how many people smoke? Choice and the consequences that go along with it. Peace.
1010486
Why are cigarettes and alcohol on the market if they are so bad for your health? It all comes down to you: you are the one that chooses which products to buy (and possibly harm yourself). If smoking makes you feel better, even though it is killing you, then you will purchase it. If douching makes you feel better, then you will buy a douche.
251353
Why do you all say no because it's illegal? Doesn't any of you do anything that is not legal, such as smoking weed and driving after having a few drinks? You hypocrites!