A NYT article about Frank Sinatra and cigarette culture of his heyday

[Pompidou]

I get the New York Times emailed to me daily. This article wasn't a headliner, but people here might like it. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/opinion/14greene.html

 

[Blackjack]

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you, everyone. So is drinking, fatty foods, sugar, on and on. You can't buy cigarettes unless your what 21...18? I'm not sure of the age but it should be 21. After that it's your decision to smoke or not, the government needs to worry less about what law abiding adults do in their private lives and more about fixing the mess that they've got us into in this country. Smoking kills you, sometimes depending on your genetics ( my grandfather and uncle smoked from the time they were 10 or 12 and lived into they're mid eighties dying of unrelated causes) Next they'll be putting diseased livers on Rum bottles and clotted arterial photos on Big macs ( although that does affect children, maybe you should have to be 21 to buy those) Either make them illegal or stay the hell out of our business, Rant over...

 

[rue]

Sinatra was once asked “How does the smoker prevail in a world of nonsmokers?” to which he promptly replied “Tell ‘em, you die your way, I’ll die mine.”

My sentiments exactly.

 

[Pompidou]

The only real difference between smoking, and alcohol and other unhealthy habits is the 2nd hand aspect. You've got the right to drink, because drinking hurts only you, but you can't drink and drive because then you risk others. The only reason cigarette smoking should face limitations greater than alcohol is because your right to smoke and my right not to smoke are going to eventually clash, and that's where the law is stepping in. In some states, it's illegal to smoke in your car if you're driving with kids under 18. I want to say New York for one.

I think the only reason cigarette manufacturers are forced to put so many labels on their products is because they took so long to acknowledge that there were any dangers at all. Early compromise could've saved a lot of punitive legislation later. That's why the videogame companies adopted the ESRB to self regulate. Doesn't really matter what real harm your product may cause, if the general population can be led to believe one way or the other. Self regulate, or the government will regulate you, and the latter will be unpleasant.

Other than that, I generally agree smoking in private should always be legal - though I'd go further and legalize every drug. People should be free to kill themselves as they please, and picking and choosing which addictive poisons are socially acceptable and which are not is kind of silly. You die your way, I'll die mine. My ways are coffee and beer. It could take a while.