Marijuana vs. Cigarettes: Why Is One Illegal and Other Isn't?

[kai]

This is a joke, plain and simple. It's these care tactics that going to put innocent people, who did nothing more that use a plant into jail. The scales of justice have and are completely without discernment. Absolutely pathetic.

why jeremy mason me dost think thou protests too loudly ?

 

[Buttons*]

Cigarettes aren't as mind altering - you can still do all daily activity and not have to get used to soaring above the clouds and wanting immense amounts of food and sleep in order to operate regularly. A couple cig breaks a day, a small buzz, and you get on with it.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

why jeremy mason me dost think thou protests too loudly ?

Well, injustice is terrible regardless of it's application.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Cigarettes aren't as mind altering - you can still do all daily activity and not have to get used to soaring above the clouds and wanting immense amounts of food and sleep in order to operate regularly. A couple cig breaks a day, a small buzz, and you get on with it.

How many people have died from cigarettes?

 

[kai]

How many people have died from cigarettes?

which reminds me of my point about our national health service picking up the bill, how many people i wonder are in hospital as a result of inhaling fumes on purpose or drinking alcohol? its burden we cannot sustain.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

which reminds me of my point about our national health service picking up the bill, how many people i wonder are in hospital as a result of inhaling fumes on purpose or drinking alcohol? its burden we cannot sustain.

I agree, but compare the statistics of alcohol or cigarette related hospitalizations to marijuana related hospitalizations (If there are any) and I think you will come to a more rational conclusion.

 

[kai]

I agree, but compare the statistics of alcohol or cigarette related hospitalizations to marijuana related hospitalizations (If there are any) and I think you will come to a more rational conclusion.

my rational conclusion Jeremy is that burning anything and inhaling the fumes is not good for you. our health service is very nearly a service for self harmers

 

[Father Heathen]

my rational conclusion Jeremy is that burning anything and inhaling the fumes is not good for you. our health service is very nearly a service for self harmers

Eating fastfood can be pretty unhealthy too, what with heart disease and obesity and all. Energy drinks are said to be potentially harmful and addictive, also.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

my rational conclusion Jeremy is that burning anything and inhaling the fumes is not good for you. our health service is very nearly a service for self harmers

It's all about moderation with anything, right?

 

[kai]

Eating fastfood can be pretty unhealthy too, what with heart disease and obesity and all.

yep i agree, we dont really look after ourselves do we , theres so much temptation, i am as guilty as the next man.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

yep i agree, we dont really look after ourselves do we , theres so much temptation, i am as guilty as the next man.

I hear ya kai.

 

[Father Heathen]

yep i agree, we dont really look after ourselves do we , theres so much temptation, i am as guilty as the next man.

Yes, but should we let it lie upon the freedom and responsibility of the individual, or should the State start monitoring our calories and cholesterol? Should they have fines or a fat tax based on a percentage of an individual's weight? **** testing for caffeine?

 

[kai]

Yes, but should we let it lie upon the freedom and responsibility of the individual, or should the State start monitoring our calories and cholesterol? Should they have fines or a fat tax based on a percentage of an individual's weight? **** testing for caffeine?

well its all down to who pays for health care , if the state picks up the bill ,they have a responsibility to spend the health budget wisely, there are only so many beds and some people do object to alcohol and tobacco related illnesses taking up the strain in our health service.

if you pay for your own then, do what you like its no ones business,( not my opinion just thinking out loud)

 

[Father Heathen]

well its all down to who pays for health care , if the state picks up the bill ,they have a responsibility to spend the health budget wisely, there are only so many beds and some people do object to alcohol and tobacco related illnesses taking up the strain in our health service.

if you pay for your own then, do what you like its no ones business,( not my opinion just thinking out loud)

I point was why ban one thing because it's unhealthy when there are a lot more other things that are just as unhealthy, if not more so, that are far more widespread? I'm sure health problems related to obesity and poor diet have been far more deadlier and costlier than puffing on a joint ever has.

 

[gnomon]

Their is also the argument that smokers and regular drinkers actually save money for the state by not living as long on average. Fatal diseases that kill the individual within a few years require less financial maintenance than those patients who are physically healthy but require long term support, especially for diseases such as Alzheimer's, and the state might actually save health care costs for the aging due to the high risk nature of smoking and drinking.

Of course, this doesn't factor in lost work hours but I'm willing to bet that it balances out and that the amount we're really paying as a society to those who choose to smoke and suffer the consequences is basically nil.

However, when you look at the absolute costs of say...taking someone with a job and a family, putting them through a publicly paid trail, locking them into a publicly paid prison for many years you have removed that individual from the work force, put a cost burden on the tax payers and, from the precedent set of our prison system actually creating criminals, pretty much assured further societal problems and costs by locking up non-violent drug offenders to lengthy prison sentences.

The comparison between that and the health costs of high risk activities, which do offset themselves, isn't even close in my opinion.

So I think the argument can honestly focus more back on the idea of proper regulation.