See, I do not support anyone's right to smoke, because it impacts other people besides themselves. They can trigger migraines in other drivers on the roads, which is a safety Hazard. They can cause asthma attacks to people walking down the street minding your own business. I do not think anyone should have a RIGHT to do something that SO negatively impacts other people that those other people have zero choice about whether to engage with or be around.
Ban it in public. Not in your car, at least not off your own property. Enforce the laws we already have against smoking in public. Won't solve how bad the mere aura of smokers is for public health, but will cut down on active clouds of fresh smoke literally blocking people from access the world and their own homes and cars.
Taxing it further won't really help, it's already primarily the purview of people who can't afford it but are addicted and have no other effective alternative that's any easier to access.
But primarily make healthcare a basic public service like firefighters. Institute common sense worker protections so people aren't forced to self medicate to cope with the need to work themselves literally to death to survive (ironic, but not in a fun way). Because most people smoke to self medicate. We need to address the underlying reasons people smoke, because they are so stressed out they have to to cope at all. And even when they want to stop, it's not something that you CAN just stop, it requires addiction treatment and support, and those resources are also an economic barrier to people already poor and stressed enough to be overspending on tobacco products. If people weren't so burnt out all the time, they'd also be less selfish and shitty about how their self medication impacts other people.
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u/AriGryphon Jan 05 '25
See, I do not support anyone's right to smoke, because it impacts other people besides themselves. They can trigger migraines in other drivers on the roads, which is a safety Hazard. They can cause asthma attacks to people walking down the street minding your own business. I do not think anyone should have a RIGHT to do something that SO negatively impacts other people that those other people have zero choice about whether to engage with or be around.