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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (8251)	10/8/1998 8:21:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 67261

I still support a person's right to smoke. Just, not around me, and not addictive. As a nicotine addict who is in the midst of yet another attempt to quit, this matter is close to my heart, too. In the past, I have always tried not to smoke around non-smokers. At the same time, it is preposterous to talk about taking the nicotine out of cigarettes. People smoke cigarettes ONLY for the nicotine in them. And I have to say I can't be sure I am going to be able to stay off the weed. Nicotine patches give me a rash; the nicotine gum has destroyed the few teeth I had left; and this Xyban stuff is a joke. So what are you going to do if my latest attempt at quitting fails? Support a major government-funded research program aimed at finding truly effective help for addicts like me? Criminalize cigarette-smoking, and make me a victim of an expanded War on Drugs? <gg> It's a slippery slope, once you start meddling in other people's private activities. Suicide (by smoke inhalation) may be a sin, but it's not a crime (yet). jbe P.S. I don't like the tobacco companies, either. The stinkers hooked me.

To: Machaon who wrote (8251)	10/8/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Robert, I can't believe it, I actually agree with you on something. bp

To: Machaon who wrote (8251)	10/8/1998 10:22:00 PM
From: j_b	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 67261

<< but to make a product addictive is a crime.>> The problem with this type of logic is that many products are addictive to some degree. For example, coffee, tea and soda (not to mention chocolate) contain caffeine, a highly addictive compound. A large percentage of headaches and nausea are actually the result of caffeine withdrawal. Criminalize coffee? I doubt it. the same is true of over the counter allergy medicines. Somewhere, somehow, people have to be allowed to make their own mistakes. On the issue of smoking, the effect on others not participating in the sport of smoking changes the debate. Your points are extremely valid, and are the main reason I could vote for bans on public smoking, since there is no way to limit the smoke to an enclosed area to protect the non-smokers.