General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: All of you who criticized Bloomberg over the Soda ban ... consider this [View all]jollyreaper2112
(1,941 posts)Personal choice is personal choice up to the point where others suffer for it. If I go hiking in a dangerous part of the country and am killed and eaten by a bear, that's my personal stupidity. If I go hiking, get lost and call for a helicopter rescue, now my stupidity affects others.
The cost of smoking-related illnesses are not confined to the finances of the smokers in question. Even if they were, tobacco companies advertise to increase sales. It's not like cigarettes are just sitting on a shelf and a prospective smoker has to pick them up to figure out how they're used. There's an entire incentivization culture built around it.
Our food situation is even worse because we don't have to smoke but we do have to eat and our choices have become increasingly erroded. It becomes very difficult to eat in such a way that won't make you fat in this country. Obesity wasn't a problem generations ago and we ate plenty.