California raised its smoking age to 21. That will likely save lives.

[manboychef]

I'm a bigger fan of less government control and more parental control, although now that I think about it we might be fucked since parents don't really parent their kids anymore.



Pretty much. If someone wants to get lung cancer it's their choice. Like I think I already said I'm fine with the age being 18 like it is everywhere else and I don't see raising the age to 21 doing much of anything to curb tobacco use in younger people.

This is how I feel. It is up to the parents to teach their kids about the dangers of smoking and drug use at an early age. I am a fan of less government in certain situations, and more government and regulations in others. Mostly I would like to see more government hands in regulating the prices of healthcare (not the failed bi partisan Affordable Care Act), regulating public education (Less tests, more humanities courses, better pay for teachers) oversight of prison industry (seriously do we even need to say that it is wrong for people to make money on other people's incarceration?) the food industry (having a standard of safety and cleanliness is a good thing) and lastly regulating the financial industry (Most of the economic problems we are facing are due to laissez faire governing of the financial sector). There are indeed other instances that government should play a bigger role, and also instances that the government should have nothing to do with.

The problem with people getting lung cancer as their choice is that it raises premiums on healthcare for everyone. It is the same with obesity and addiction. Due to the bad choices of certain people, we pay more in healthcare. These problems are very preventable.

OT: I would like to hear about teenage smoking from other peoples countries of origin. In the states it is kind of a right of passage for the "bad kids".

I'd make exercise compulsary

It used to be through recess and Physical Education. We also used to have a lot more community centers in which teens would lead younger kids in different games like dodgeball, spud, kickball etc. This was a huge part of my upbringing (as my parents were not around so much.) Since schools are getting less funds now these programs are in danger...that and the arts. Both the arts and exercise are incredibly important to the health and welfare of any child.

 

[Bagseed]

OT: I would like to hear about teenage smoking from other peoples countries of origin. In the states it is kind of a right of passage for the "bad kids".

read my post I made yesterday. in Austria, teenage smoking is prevalent, andin general we have very high tobacco consumption.

and I support harder laws on tobacco, because it causes many diseases which put a burden on the healthcare system and it is incredibly addictive. nobody wants to prohibit tobacco completely, but is it really sensible to allow shops to sell it to minors (as is the case in my country)? sure they have ways to get it anyway, but the harder it is, the more it will keep minors from smoking.

also, as far as I am aware, higher taxes on tobacco correlate with lower smoking rates, but maybe I am mistaken.

I for one am glad that I haven't consumed any tobacco/nicotine in well over 2 years. I wanted to stop at 16 already and it took me that long. most people who get addicted early will never be able to stop. it is a major health crisis.

 

[poledriver]

also, as far as I am aware, higher taxes on tobacco correlate with lower smoking rates, but maybe I am mistaken.

Yeah, here in Australia smoking rates have dived, and it's through massive price hikes, plain packaging (no branding), graphic warning labels, product sold from out of eye sight (behind closed cabinet doors) and tv, website and magazine ads that depict the horrible long term health effects and death from smoking that this has happened.

But on the other side we now have life long smokers who are being forced to pay over $20 per pack, or roughly 1$ per cigarette and people who are in their 70's and 80's and are fully addicted shouldnt really have to be paying such a high price for something they've been consuming for a huge part of their lives at an affordable price.