Why not just make smoking illegal? The policy seams to be that it is bad and that should not do it, so maybe it should be enforced.
Quick answer, because prohibition is a proven failed policy, it would just create a new black market and a new revenue stream for criminals.
The real problem here is that it is *not* our place to tell people what to do when it is not interfering with our (eroding) right to do the same.
We need to stop being a nanny for other people's decisions in life and trying to control people, because it expands the scope of government.
The need of people to control/persecute others is human nature and a constant threat to our freedoms.
One may have a chosen cause for the best of reasons but it still sets a dangerous precedent.
Let me say I don't smoke because it is bad for your health but it is just not my place to tell other people what to do when it is not causing me undo harm.
I am fine with not allowing people to smoke indoors because of the proven health risks to non-smokers; beyond that, a little whiff of smoke from someone smoking outside is orders of magnitude less dangerous than say driving or having a poor diet.
You want to have your car outlawed?
The government decided what and when you can eat?
How about government mandated exercise programs?
If one has some cause they believe in they should feel free to express it through culture but not turn that belief into a function of government.
Trying to live forever is not the only ideal in life.
Maybe quality of life might be more important to some than quantity of life.
I am will to protect that and allow people to make their own decisions because I want to be able to make mine as well.
