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Can you say the same about cigarette smoking bans in restaurants? Just a socially acceptable way for people to hate smokers? Smoking or emitting carbon, or usi

Can you say the same about cigarette smoking bans in restaurants? Just a socially acceptable way for people to hate smokers? Smoking or emitting carbon, or using plastic imposes negative externalities on other people. Second hand smoke causes lung cancer, carbon in the atmosphere leads to climate change, plastic in our environment can cause developmental and reproductive issues. There are reasons to oppose these things that do not include hating people. Some of the tactics may be ineffective or misguided, but this does not mean that everyone who cares about stopping harmful things hates a particular group of people. I like your idea of putting a price on carbon emissions. Many economists agree that it would be one of the most effective ways to eliminate emissions while allowing the economy to continue to grow [1]. Solutions are there, and they will be employed when the political will for it is built. [1] https://clcouncil.org/economists-statement/ https://clcouncil.org/economists-statement/

samdunham 3y ago
I stand by my (100% non-scientific) position that smoking bans would never have gained traction if cigarette smoke didn't smell. When all of this was being discussed in a serious manner, that was what I always heard in the background chatter, well more often than "it's unhealthy." If cigarette smoke smelled pleasant or had no odor, the bans would never have had enough support to get pushed through. I still don't support smoking bans in private businesses. I think as long as the business is up front and only hires employees that are okay with it, they should be allowed to decide whether their customers can consume a totally legal product in their place of business. Is it unhealthy? Absolutely. But the government should allow people to decide for themselves whether they want to take that risk.

samdunham 3y ago

I stand by my (100% non-scientific) position that smoking bans would never have gained traction if cigarette smoke didn't smell. When all of this was being discussed in a serious manner, that was what I always heard in the background chatter, well more often than "it's unhealthy." If cigarette smoke smelled pleasant or had no odor, the bans would never have had enough support to get pushed through. I still don't support smoking bans in private businesses. I think as long as the business is up front and only hires employees that are okay with it, they should be allowed to decide whether their customers can consume a totally legal product in their place of business. Is it unhealthy? Absolutely. But the government should allow people to decide for themselves whether they want to take that risk.