New York City Council raises age to buy cigarettes to 21

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America---where people are assumed to be too stupid to know that cigarettes are harmful...

Fixed.

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America---where people are assumed to be too stupid to know that cigarettes are harmful...

Fixed.

Wait, why is it "America"......isn't our smoking rate far below the rest of the planet?  (too lazy to google it)

Don't know.  I was just quoting and doing a little fixing.  But we do have the trifecta in America substance abuse, terrible diet, and lack of exercise.  All contribute in a big way to our healthcare crisis.  I personally don't care if someone wants to go off onto an island and smoke till they die an early miserable death.  But please pay back the tax payer for the school we wasted on you and stay as far away from our insurances pools and hospitals as possible.  I am tired of footing the bill so libertarians can be "free."

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This is another stupid and pointless law. If at 18 you can pick candidates for political office and die in WAR, then you should be able buy cigarettes or drink alcohol. I mean, I get Bloomberg and the New York City Council have such a low opinion of people, but this is ridiculous.

No, the ones with "low opinions of people" are those who want to sell them poisonous cancer sticks that pollute the air with poisonous cancer smoke, just so they can feel good about how "free" they are.

Isn't smoking already banned just about everywhere in New York City? These roundabout that Bloomberg is doing is just dumb. At the age of 18, it's a persons decision whether or not they want to inhale and exhale poisonous cancer smoke in their own home. Hell, I'd respect the New York City Council more if they tried to ban Smoking outright (which I totally disagree with, but that's beside the point).

Two things.

1) Many of us don't care if people want to move to an island and give themselves cancer and heart disease and die a slow miserable death.  Where I start to have a problem is when we as a society have to start footing their medical bills and dealing with their second hand smoke.  Either you are a libertarian or you're not.

2) The simple fact of the matter is if people don't start smoking by a certain age it is highly unlikely they will start later in life.  That's why people want to raise the age limit.  It's, you know, science.  An absolute ban would affect tens of thousands of addicted people.  That's not a good idea.  Again that's science with a dash of common sense.

Raising the legal age when people can start smoking definitely curbs long term addiction rates without being draconian to most already addicted people.  One of the reasons this forum has the issues it does is because a lot of the posters are teenagers.  By the time you reach or late twenties or beyond you get a clue.  People in their 30s don't spontaneous decide one day to give themselves cancer because it makes them look "cool."

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http://progressreport.cancer.gov/doc_detail.asp?pid=1&did=2007&chid=71&coid=703&mid

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http://progressreport.cancer.gov/doc_detail.asp?pid=1&did=2007&chid=71&coid=703&mid

Doesn't that study reject your point? A lot of smokers are doing it below the age limit anyways, chances are, they will find a way. And its not 21 to smoke (you can still smoke at 18), just buying.

No it quite clearly says doing anything in your power to discourage adolescents and young adults from smoking saves lives.  Prohibiting sales to people under 21 is not a panacea it is just one component in an overall strategy.

An outright ban on everyone who smokes is draconian because people are addicted.  But what the data presented is if you can just discourage people from smoking when they are younger and more susceptible to addiction you can rather painlessly save lives.

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Link, are you assuming that no one under the age of 21 is addicted?

I'm and educated man.  I don't live in a world of absolutes.

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So an 18 year old can cast a vote for New York's representation in the electoral college, die in a war, drive a car, purchase pornography, and be baptized, but not buy cigarettes?  What kind of topsy turvy world is Michael Bloomberg living in?

I can't go point by point and address your whole post but let me clarify something for all you non Americans about how our government was designed to work.  18 year olds do not choose the president.  And in general they do not choose the candidates for representative to the electoral college.  Party insiders choose the slate of the electoral college candidates.  The 18 year old chooses which slate of prechosen candidates they want.  Once the electoral college assembles the electoral representatives from New York have no obligation to do as the 18 year olds have asked.  And on multiple occasions representatives to the electoral college have cast votes for people who were not even running for president.

Lots of details get lost to the sands of time, but let me assure you the United States of America was set up with numerous controls in place for the express purpose of not allowing 18 year olds to pick the president.

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Ban cigarettes! Legalise marijuana!

'Ram a spliff up big tobacco's arse! Support small, independent Columbian business!'

Colombia is where cocaine comes from, not pot. There's no point in smuggling pot all the way from Colombia when it can be grown quite easily domestically. Even in terms of weed imported to the US more comes from Canada than any other country.

Do you have a link for those facts?  I'm pretty sure 50+% of drug cartel revenue in Mexico comes from pot.  ¡Ay, caramba!  That's a lot of decapitations just so some hippies can have some mellow fun!

Anyway that's why I'm for pot legalization.