What would happen if all smoking became illegal in America?
What would happen if tobacco and all smoking and all cigarettes and cigars became illegal in the United States a.k.a. no more designated smoking anywhere in the country? I think there would be a lot of businesses forced to take Marlboro and other tobacco products out of their stores or be shut down. The "War on Drugs" would take on a much deeper meaning than just illegal monetary gain; it would be about health. Personally I think cocaine and other substances being illegal is more about money than about protecting people's health or you wouldn't have this stupid double standard that says merchants can sell Marlboro cigarettes and cigars in grocery stores all over America to adults who are 18+ but unemployed people (drug dealers/thugs) can't sell cocaine or crack to addicts sleeping in an alley somewhere. Even colleges allow smoking! There is no point to D.A.R.E. for today's youth when colleges allow or even encourage that kind of behavior simply because they are adults considered able to make their own decisions. You will still suffer because of cause and effect regardless of how old you are. If you smoke you will kill your lungs. If you jump off a cliff gravity will pull you to the ground. I think the people promoting the war on drugs are missing the point of it all since there is no distinction between legal and illegal drugs except what the government says you can and can't ingest. I think it's more about money (greed) than about people's health.
Law & Ethics - 8 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
A black market would develop and people would end up going to jail.
2 :
Then the current US Reich would be even closer to taking away all our freedoms. The more freedoms they take away from the people, the more powerful they get.
3 :
The government will never let that happen, they pull in major $$$$ in taxes from tobacco.
4 :
To be honest i think that if Obama were to ban smoking altogther it would send out a positive message to other powerful countries who would probably think that if he could do it so can we. I think this will also greatly reduce the amount of cancer in the USA because second hand smoke will drop, this again will have knock on effects in other countries as people smoking will realize that it can be stopped. However it will take away alot of business as cigarette factories are likely to employ many workers and it would also put more pressure on US health services trying to deal with the magnitude of people forced to give up smoking.
5 :
The same thing that happened when alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and opiates were made illegal. People would simply buy them illegally and the organized crime bosses would become even richer. 90% of the worlds heroin comes through the Taliban, take that income away by legalizing heroin and you'd cripple them, give them a tobacco market as well and they'll be even stronger, the same would be true of the Cocaine cartels in Columbia. 80% of the U.S. prison population is none violent drug offenses, you really think we need to increase that even more?
6 :
Then the governement would have to find someone else to fund the million dollar bonuses of CEOs of bailed-out companies.
7 :
the smoking industry would collapse, which is a great thing to happen
8 :
It'll never happen - may as well ask what would happen if there were no poverty in America. If it were true about money rather than people's health, junk food and fast food would be illegal.
