Should cigarettes/tobacco be illegal?

No, Prohibition backfired, so outlawing cigarettes and tobacco products ENTIRELY won't do anything other than create a HUGE black market for tobacco.

Shamelessly, I do smoke, but I'm mindful of not only where I light up, but also about how much I smoke each day, (I smoke Djarum Blacks, usually one-two, MAX, a day).

Smoking does help people relax, but that's about the only positive side to cigarettes.

People forget it's not just about cigarettes, there's the smokeless tobacco, cigars, hookah/shisha , and other crazy things I don't know about.

I used to do tobacco products, I smoke an occasional cigar now and again, but not on the regular, maybe smoke out of a hookah socially. But I used to be stuck on chewing tobacco - pouches, long cut and snus. I've been clean off of those products for 3 years and it was a struggle to get off it...but my answer to the topic question...NO.

In moderation it's fine, but since people can get addicted to it that's the main concern. People will do what they want, how they want, it's ultimately up to them.

As people mentioned above, it would backfire if they did. They can put restrictions, raise taxes, etc. but not ban it, and people would still be happy.

But No, it shouldn't be banned, but people who smoke need to know that they affect others with it, and just out of courtesy not to smoke where it isn't advised or where it harms others. Same goes for non smokers, if a place allows smoking and you don't like smoke, don't go. Find that nice middle ground and things will go smoothly.

NO SHIT , IM GONNA STOP SMOKING RIGHT AWAY !

Personally I'm sick and tired of people smoking near entrances to buildings it's inconsiderate and unhealthy for those around them. We usually get smokes wafting into our store because of some smokers out near the entrance of the building is puffing and the automatic doors let it come in with the air currents.
I believe it should not be banned but at least have areas for smokers; such as smoking rooms for them to get their fill but not stink up everyone else.
As much as I would love that people would stop puffing on death sticks it won't happen for a long time.

Originally, I use to think they should be illegal. Now I believe it should be a law decided only by local, city governments, and NOT the state or FEDs!

As for my actual opinion? I say 18+ laws should be necessary, as with any other drug. Tobacco has a rich, deep history in our culture, and banning it completely would be a big blow to our roots!

I also believe we shouldn't be shoving anti-Tobacco propaganda down students' throats in high school! (This goes for Global Warming propaganda too, but that's a separate issue...)

What we need are smoking laws rather than prohibition. Enforce stricter smoking laws such as where you may smoke so that it does not harm others, but by god, please do not prohibit smoking!

Yeah.. the fact that it kills 20,000 people a year. And it has many side effects, including Lung Cancer, and the way it harms the environment

And Sometimes no.. because it relieves the stress and problems of a certain individual. and people are always stressed nowadays. Let them have their smoke.

Don't bother replying or quoting to my reply. I won't give a fuck, this is what i think at least

I could really care less if someone wants to smoke a cig or not. As long as they stay downwind from me, we're cool. I have seen both sides of this issue form inside my family. I have a grandmother who has smoked since 16-she's 76 now-and her lungs looks like those of a 40 year old. Yet my dad despises the damn things with a passion and he has had some health issues because of secondhand smoke. Nothing major of course but he still has some minor symtoms like shortness of breath and minor ashma. Smoking in itself is a choice of either wanting a quick "legal" fix with health issues in the future or a life where your only health worry is either cancer or cardivasculor disease. I'm not saying most smokers do it only for a fix since I know friends who find it helpful to calm them down. In my honest opinion though, smoking will probably always be legal because of demand and such.

Smoking shouldn't be banned, because if it was though, it will go through the same cycle like prohibition did in the 1920's. Then everything falls upon one another.

that is also true now that I think of it. Good arguement on not banning tobacco there.

I don't care. People will always find ways of enjoying themselves while destroying their healths. Alcohol isn't any better. I'd even pick weed over Tobacco or Alcohol but I don't ban any of them. I just don't smoke on a regular basis(almost never actually, I just like the effects of cigarettes when already drunk), and I like drinking Alcohol, not getting drunk with it.

But I do think it is kind of unfair to have tobacco legal when weed isn't because Marijuana is less dangerous (in my senses and from what I have seen, read(Wikipedia), and took myself).

In a way, Cigarettes are like nuclear power : It's efficient, but the radioactivity is such a pain. Make it illegal, people will get it illegally anyway.

I actually just started smoking, to enjoy the camaraderie of it with my fellow workers on the overnight shift. A common addiction is nice, it brings people together. In moderation they calm me down and make work more enjoyable for a time and i think its one of the last disarming traits. People have become so cold to each other, but with cigarettes there is a common bond. All must stand outside and get cold (i live in new york so there are a shitload of stupid laws and takes on them) the prices are ridiculous but sharing a light or a smoke is nice. Whether you make a new friend, or just have an acquaintance to talk with for a while, you meet people and already have something in common.

I'm a smoker. and Banning Cigarettes and tobacco products doesn't mean that people won't use them, in fact it'll only make people want them even more. ever heard of the expression "what's good is bad and what's bad is good?" Same principle applies.

At least when it's legal the government can profit from it and so as other manufacturing companies and the people who harvest tobaccos for a living.

Damn, this topic makes me crave for a cigarette.

If tobacco was illegal it would be handled by drug dealers, meaning it would be mixed with even more dangerous ingredients and drug dealers would take advantage of addicts. The cigarette addicts may be lured by dealers into trying harder, more dangerous drugs like heroin. Holland has a nearly nonexistant heroin use statistic because drug dealers often lead cannibis users into hard drugs, in Holland weed is distributed legally which stops this problem alltogether.

Exactly. Cigarettes need to be legal so they can be regulated. People who want to smoke will find a way to smoke by whatever means they can. Better for the product to be made correctly than for dealers to add some sleazy stuff to it.

And since money controls everything, the government would be out of a huge source of revenue if they make it illegal. I'm not a smoker, but I've seen prices for some cigarette packs. 10 or 11 bucks, and many people smoke multiple packs a week.

Soda and fast food may also lead to a shorter unhealthy life (Diabetes, Obesity, High Blood Pressure, etc). Moral of the story is to educate people on the health risks of smoking, and let them decide what to do with their money and their bodies.

I somke cigars and drink and really only once a year. And as a few of you already stated, prohibition didn't turn out so well. But if they (the government) find a solution that isn't as extreme as Prohibition, then I'll be all for it.

The difference between soda and fast food and a cigarette is that, the latter are beverages and solids(and therefore, can be consumed by the human body), whereas the cigarette is a foreign object with no real place for the human system. It destroys the lungs, injects drugs(Nicotine) into your body and may or may not cause problems.

Hasn't caused problems for my grandmother, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be stupid enough to smoke one.

That said, someone said that tobacco has a "rich and deep history in our culture", and this in my mind is the big problem(same with the alchol, prohibition failure) is that these things have "become a part of our culture." and as a result we can't part with them.

Sometimes, I don't think this country has much in the way of morality, pride or a sense of ethics. In fact, we're so far removed from those things that I think this country tends to be shallow at times.

I've never smoked in my life and I never will since I know people, in my family in particular, who have died at young ages due to smoking. If I had my own way then yes, I would make smoking illegal because I understand the real effects of the bad substances inside them. But I can't change the higher-ups minds, nor will I ever be 'higher-up'. So meh, people can kill themselves off early for all I care.

As a pack-a-day smoker I'm obviously inclined to say no.
It's my body, and I feel inclined to do what I wish to it.

Making smoking illegal will just lead to me becoming a criminal.
Tasmania in Australia is attempting to pass legislation stopping those born after the turn of the millennium from being able to buy cigarettes. Even after they reach the current legal age.
No. Bad. Their body; their choice. I've never been against something so much.

Eating unhealthily can shorten your lifespan by a greater amount than smoking.
Will junk food ever be illegal?
Possibly, although I doubt it.
I wonder how riled up people would get if that type of legislation were to be put forward.

Pretty much that.

I never smoked in my life but I don't see why smoking should be illegal, as long as I'm not forced to choke on secondhand smoke all the time...

And, at least where I live, I'm not, so why take other people's pleasure from them?