Kool! NYC city council aims to raise smoking age from 18 to 21!

[OwnedByCats]

66. You sound like a repuke there Graham

You know how many times I've heard them say "I don't want to pay for everyone else's health care!". What you're doing is the very reason why not everyone was on board with single payer because they get babysat enough by the insurance companies.

I lived with single payer health care for 10 years of my life and they NEVER dictated to me, an adult, what I could and could not do in my personal lifestyle. That government never got involved in my or anyone else's health care. Of course doctors will always tell you to lose weight, stop smoking, don't consume too much sugar, alcohol etc. but that's their job. But I never had to deal with the government telling me what to do when it came to legal activity. Everybody pays into a government run health care system that everyone can use at prices they all easily afford. Do you know what their biggest concern was, money wise? Obesity. Cigarettes and what can happen as a result of smoking was small potatoes compared to the vast list of things caused by or aggravated by obesity. Plenty of people still smoke there so that's not a factor. Enough have quit to where it's not their biggest concern. It's just the government doesn't waste nearly as much money as we do and puts more back into their citizens. So instead of getting a more fair and affordable system, we got ACA and now people like you are proving to all those people I tried to convince that single payer was the way to go that yes, give the government the slightest chance to run your life and they will. Just imagine how bad it would be if we did have single payer, right?

We already have the lowest amount of smokers than ever before and that is not down to banning or restricting them. Education and support is the key. Many many people have quit. I would say what you need to be more concerned about is obesity, which is a far bigger problem, but I know you're on top of that too.

And another thing - I'm not disputing that cigs are bad for your health and if you can't tolerate the smoke because you have asthma, allergies or other respiratory problems - well I thought we took care of that by banning smoking in all public buildings? I agree that smokers should not smoke around non smokers and I never did when I was a smoker because it's inconsiderate and a douche bag thing to do. The thing that bothers me about the hysteria is that of all the people that I have known who have either had cancer or died from it, only one was a smoker. The other 30 I've known of all different ages and cancer types either never smoked or smoked for a very short period of time earlier in their life and their cancer was in no way related to that. Cancer is on the rise and smoking is not the biggest problem. There is a lot more to this than just the smokers. I wish Monsanto would stay the hell out of our food supply but no, everyone is more worried about cigarettes. Monsanto is nothing more than a poison manufacturer. Try doing something about that in your crusade for a healthier America.