Stogie News: Nearly Half of Americans Support Tobacco Prohibition
26 Oct 2006
A survey to be released today finds that nearly half of Americans would support a complete federal prohibition on cigarettes. The poll, conducted by Zogby International and commissioned by the Drug Policy Alliance, sampled 1,200 Americans.
According to the survey, 45 percent said “they would support federal legislation making cigarettes illegal in five to ten years.†According to Zogby’s website, such a sample size would generate a margin of error less than +/- 3 percent.
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of DPA, issued the following statement about the survey’s shocking results:
The number of Americans who support criminalizing cigarette smokers is shocking. The question is not if cigarette smoking is dangerous and leads to premature death – as surely, it is and does. The question is how to best address cigarette smoking as a public health problem. Based on history and current policies, we know that prohibition often leads to devastating consequences.
The full Zogby poll will be available at www.DrugPolicy.org following an 11:30 AM teleconference.
Stogie Guys Analysis
Traditionally, anti-tobacco activists have “justified†restrictions on smoking on the basis of protecting third parties from “second hand smoke,†even if that means misleading the public and exaggerating such harms. In one recent instance, a Minnesota anti-smoking group laughably claimed in a press release that “Just 30 seconds of exposure can make coronary artery function of nonsmokers indistinguishable from smokers.â€
Yet this study shows that anti-smoking zealots may be dangerously close to having the public support for their real, though rarely publicly-stated, goal of complete tobacco prohibition. This goal is evident when smoking bans don’t even have exemptions for cigar bars and retailers.
Also, cigar smokers should take little solace in the fact that the survey only specifically mentions “cigarettes.†Because of the massive lobbying power of cigarette companies compared to cigar companies, there should be little doubt that any federal legislation banning cigarettes that could actually pass Congress would also include cigars and pipes, just as local and state level bans have.
Hopefully this study serves as a wake up call for cigar smokers to stand up with cigarette smokers for individual choice and personal responsibility. If not, anti-smoking Nazis could force smoking into “tobacco speakeasies†and the criminal underworld, like alcohol during prohibition.
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
We don't need government bureaucrats to tell us what we can and cannot put into our own bodies — be it tobacco or cocaine. Apparently 45 percent of Americans forgot we have rights.
This survey can be found online here: http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/DPAZogbyToba…
Lets have they A** Holes at the DEA enforce tobacco prohibition. Afterall, they think that Prohibition worked!
This from their site:
A word about prohibition: lots of you hear the argument that alcohol prohibition failed—so why are drugs still illegal? Prohibition did work. Alcohol consumption was reduced by almost 60% and incidents of liver cirrhosis and deaths from this disease dropped dramatically.
This study is, at best, disheartening. I strongly doubt, however, that federal legislation to ban tobacco will even be introduced in my lifetime. While possibly a minority, smokers and people who care about liberty would be a strong, vocal opposition, and rightly so.
Wow, James, that's two great posts in a row. But why don't you tell us how you really feel?
Speaking of douchebags, Tucker Carlson had a couple of Omaha bureaucrats on last night. They looked like complete idiots. When asked questions like, "Doesn't this policy seem a little Orwellian and disproportionate," all they responded with was "Our 9-1-1 system can handle lots of calls." They completely missed the point.
Surprisingly, Carlson mentioned he was against smoking bans and that the government has no business controlling behavior inside private bars.
I say instead of a smoke-free country. We should vote on a douche free country. We should make it illegal for people to practice their liberties at being tools and douchebags. I say we create a general template with the people who voted affirmative for this shit.
Plus who quotes statistics anymore? +/- 3 degrees of error? Anyone with a statistics 101 class can tell you that it a crock. They polled 1200 people as their sample? Who did they poll the guys in Omaha from the last post?
I say we send a bill to congress for a douche-free nation. My second hand smoking has an only 0.5% chance of increasing their risk for cancer, but their stupidity means a 100% chance that this country becomes more and more fascist.
OMG. Did anyone actually read the survey posted above? Check it out:
Majorities of people in the following demographic groups would support the law: 18-29 year-olds (57%), seniors 65 and older (51%),
Born-again Christians (52%), adults with less education than a high school diploma (55%),
those whose political ideology is conservative (51%) and very conservative (60%), and people with annual household incomes of $25,000-$34,999 (53%) and $50,000-$74,999 (50%).
So ummm 55% of our sample poll hasn't even finished a highschool education huh? Ok along with my crusade again douches and tools, I believe that anyone who is allowed to vote on any law that restricts my liberty should be able to read beyond a third grade level and show that they can and have read the Bill of Rights.
You guys have a video clip of our bureaucrats from last night? I'm not surprised that they didn't get Orwell. Based on the above statistic, I'm guessing that there is a 55% chance they didn't finish highschool either.
Electronic Cigarette one of the best ways to stop smoking . All of us know that smoking is bad and that it should be quit at all costs. However, it is not that easy. The people who leave it generally revert back to smoking again because their will power is not that driving. As a cigarette smoker gets older the reasons why stop smoking pile up and become more of a reality with every passing day.