Addicted to interference

Don't stink up my home!

What I read

Back home after class, my computer seems to be working fine, so I decided it would be a good idea to post at least one more example of blog post, this time practising reading and writing. In the Health section of the BBC News, I found "Most people who try one cigarette become daily smokers, study says", which interested me because I have mixed opinions about smoking, both personally and for others. 

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What it says

The main idea of the article is that smoking even one cigarette correlates with most people becoming addicted daily cigarettes smokers. The experts think this is a good reason to strengthen government controls to make it harder to sell cigarettes. 

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My response 

I am certain that smoking cigarettes is unhealthy. It also smells awful. However, smoking is also a pleasure for smokers, which is why they do it. My own personal experience is not exactly the same as that reported, but I'm sure the statistics are correct: if people try smoking even once, they are likely to continue and become addicts, which means they might suffer the serious health problems that come with smoking, such as deadly lung cancer.

But I don't agree with the proposed solutions. In a free society that respects people, you can't use the law to make bad, even stupid, decisions crimes. This is what the drug laws of many countries do, and it only wastes vast financial and human resources, but fails to stop drug use. Thailand is an obvious example. Yaa baa is illegal, but that has not reduced the use of this very popular drug, The law has, however, greatly increased corruption and made the drug problems worse, especially for young people, who are likely to also get criminal records in addition to drug problems. Another good example is when the United States made alcohol illegal between 1920 and 1933. This was great for the mafia and corrupt police. It was a disaster for society.

I think people should be educated about cigarettes, and they should be banned on publicly owned property such as streets and government hospitals, but that's all. I ban cigarettes in my home, but if people want to risk their lives in their own homes, that is their business and the law should not stop it.