If you ban it like prohibition, you will instantaneously create a black market. Continually increasing the age you can buy cigarettes is easier. Everyone that this effects will not have the option to legally create a cigarette habit/addiction.

A straight up outlawing would have the maximum effect. But it would be costly to enforce, whilst increasing overall criminal activity.

[–] 2ncs@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

They just need to outlaw the commercial production of cigarettes. I'm very anti cigarette personally, but at the end of the day, tobacco is a plant and should not be outlawed. But outlawing commercial products it makes tobacco legal and accessible to those who want it. With commercial cigarettes being less available, in guessing through either lack of convenience or lack of ability to act on an impulse, that the amount of smokers will drop.

[–] ledtasso@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

That'll never happen, the tobacco industry is too big and too many jobs will be lost all at once, so it becomes highly politicized and loses popular support. With the proposed law, the tobacco industry at least has time to pivot to something else.

[–] 2ncs@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

So let's give the companies that have lied about the harms and effects of their product a heads up? They never gave people who died of cancer when they knew it caused cancer but denied it. Moving the age will just give the time for the business owners to get more of the money out and fuck over the smaller employees anyways.

I honestly think there is no solution that doesn't have negative effects. I'm personally very against the banning of something (especially a plant) as a solution to a problem as it creates plenty more problems (see America's drug problems)

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok, but and believe me I'm all for this, cocaine and heroin are plants as well, or at least you can grow coca and poppies and get the drugs from them. Should cocaine and heroin be legal as well just because a) they're plant derived, and b) people will use the drugs and get addicted to them because that's how it works? As I said, I personally would legalize, tax, and educate people about safe recreational, therapeutic, and medical drug use for all drugs personally, but most people find that too extreme.

[–] SaltySalamander@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unironically yes, cocaine and heroin should be legal, or at the very least decriminalized. If they were legal, regulated, and you could pop into a headshop and buy them, the black markets surrounding them would begin to evaporate.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I agree, as I said