Finland aims to eliminate smoking

[Draug]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I can't wait until Hitler is mentioned in this thread.

I see what you did there!

[sa226]

Why does it take 30 years to ban smoking?

In 30 years maybe the cool kids will have some new way of killing themselves.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Skate around the circle

I guess I won't be heading there soon. Watching the news the other night and they were saying that obesity has now overtaken smoking as the #1 health risk,maybe the gov. should start taxing the hell out of all those .99 burgers out there.

So....you won't go to Finland for a visit because they have an increasing level of obesity?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Thor

Iceland is really bad for smokers too, hope at least the bars have banned smoking inside, since I'm moving back in the summer.

Wow, big news Thor.

Is that a permanent move? How old were you when you moved to Canada?

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Poison

Government has no right to take away these freedoms, now i read the article but did not notice anything to make smoking illegal, so what are they proposing to do, put up more signs???

What rights does the government (i.e. majority) have then, if it doesn't have the right to ban a toxic, carcinogenic product? Serious question: are you an anarchist?

[Thor]

Its permanent for now I moved to Canada when I was 8yrs old, and since then I have gone back to Iceland but only for 3yrs (98-01).

I'm excited, mostly I'm going to abuse the cheaper post secondary education there.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by SebC

What rights does the government (i.e. majority) have then, if it doesn't have the right to ban a toxic, carcinogenic product? Serious question: are you an anarchist?

Oh please.

I'm all for banning smoking indoors or where the second hand smoke can harm someone else but don't feed me the crap about the right of the government to ban harmful substances.

If that makes me an anarchist well dammit than yes I am.

[drewboy12]

smoke free, lots of booze, amazing food, sexy women... Where do I sign up?

[skins]

Originally Posted by Poison

...If they are anything like our government sure they say "stop smoking" in public, but do you honestly think they want the income they receive in taxes off cigerettes to stop? ....

I would bet the savings on health care would more than offset the earnings from tobacco tax.

[La Flames Fan]

I haven't been smoking in two weeks and I must say it's been fantastic. The book Easyway by Allen Carr was awesome.

One of the big things in the book is how we make quitting such an insurmountable task and how we treat the cigarette as something to be revered, when really it just kills us.

This is a wonderful idea, I hope it works...Good for Finland.

[Sylvanfan]

Isn't snus or chewing tobacco also pretty popular in Finland? I wonder if they have any plans to get rid of that too. I've never really been a smoker, but when I was a dumb young punk I did chew a bit. Than it cost $8 a tin and I decided it was not only a gross habit that women hated, but was getting pretty expensive. Of course I think it's like $25 for a tin.

Ambitious goal, but if they enforce it, they'll be able to make it work. Although I don't know if I agree with banning it altogether. If cigarettes were $50 a pack. That it could bring the number of smokers down to like under 3% maybe lower and the black market wouldn't be quite as lucrative. Whereas if it's outright banned there will be a black market for it and the idea of cops doing smoking raids to cease cigarettes is tough to fathom right now.

[JohnnyB]

I'd love to see smoking banned. It's not good for anybody except the companies making money off it.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I'd love to see smoking banned. It's not good for anybody except the companies making money off it.

Ban sugar then too. And salt. And red meat. And automobiles. And office jobs.

[T@T]

I don't get the point of all this, 50 years ago as much as 80% of men smoked and about 50% of women smoked. That number is down to about 20% worldwide now (1.3 billion estimate)

In 30 years I would think very few will smoke anyway.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by T@T

I don't get the point of all this, 50 years ago as much as 80% of men smoked and about 50% of women smoked. That number is down to about 20% worldwide now (1.3 billion estimate)

In 30 years I would think very few will smoke anyway.

And you don't think more laws and regulations on smoking had anything to do with the decrease?

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Ban sugar then too. And salt. And red meat. And automobiles. And office jobs.

Ha ha. What a list of clearly totally different things. Not analogous at all.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by TheSutterDynasty

And you don't think more laws and regulations on smoking had anything to do with the decrease?

No.

I think a better educated youth has led to the decrease in smokers.

If we ban smoking we ought to ban fast food too. Cause obesity is a more serious problem than smoking is.

Hell, lets just ban refined carbs in general. That will make everyone healthy. Ban beer too. It serves no healthy purpose and only gets innocent people killed.

Can we ban cars too? Lots of accidents everyday. Could save lots of lives there too. Maybe we can ban horses too. Dogs? I'm sure a dog has killed someone here and there. Motorbikes too. People die all the time from those things.

Anyone been killed playing hockey? I mean its a fast, dangerous and physical sport and people often get seriously injured from playing it. Maybe we should error on the safe side and ban it too. Pretty sure I read the other day about someone getting beaned in the head by a baseball and dying from a skull fracture. We ought to ban baseball too.

What else is there out there that kills people? Ban it too.

Lets just ban everything that can cause harm. That way we'll all live till we're 110 and we'll all be happy.

.........

I can't actually people people are stupid enough to believe that banning or regulating ANYTHING will do a damn thing to stop people from doing it.

If it were that simple nobody would be using crystal meth. And yet the last time I checked, meth is a BIG problem in the province of Alberta.

But I do remember some very gory, very detailed and very sick crystal meth prevention ads being shown while I was in school. I think that did more to stop people from ever wanting to do the damn drug that frickin' banning it ever will.

Education solves problems not government regulation.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Ha ha. What a list of clearly totally different things. Not analogous at all.

Please point out the difference between refined carbs and smoking.

Or fast food and smoking.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by Azure

Please point out the difference between refined carbs and smoking.

Or fast food and smoking.

Prescribed use doesn't kill you.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Azure

Please point out the difference between refined carbs and smoking.

Or fast food and smoking.

Well, although refined carbs and fast food hadn't been mentioned in that argument, they add on to things that clearly have more beneficial uses than smoking.

Eating a big mac and a bowl of pasta might not be good for me, but it could stop me from going hungry. We need food to live. Food keeps us alive. Smoking leads to death without filling our bellies. They are not comparable in that sense.