Most of the comparisons that you made are very different because they do not affect other people in the same direct way. You do not make other people sick by eating fast food. You do not make other people sick by drinking. However you can make another person feel sick by sitting next to them while you smoke your cigarette.
Cars I would say is a better comparison, because they produce pollution that affects people in the same way cigarette smoke affects people. But lawmakers are never going to stop people from driving cars, because we are a car driving society. What they are doing for cars would be the equivalent of making cigarettes with less toxic smoke. But we have already established that consumers aren't interested in those cigarettes. (They exist but hardly anyone buys them.)
Anyway, does that make sense? Other public health concerns such as drinking and the foods you eat can be totally avoided by simply not doing them yourself. But smoking is different.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2003-06-06 10:20 am (UTC)Cars I would say is a better comparison, because they produce pollution that affects people in the same way cigarette smoke affects people. But lawmakers are never going to stop people from driving cars, because we are a car driving society. What they are doing for cars would be the equivalent of making cigarettes with less toxic smoke. But we have already established that consumers aren't interested in those cigarettes. (They exist but hardly anyone buys them.)
Anyway, does that make sense? Other public health concerns such as drinking and the foods you eat can be totally avoided by simply not doing them yourself. But smoking is different.