this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
36 points (95.0% liked)
Public Health
375 readers
3 users here now
For issues concerning:
- Public Health
- Global Health
- Health Systems & Policy
- Environmental Health
- Epidemiology
- etc.
🩺 This community has a broader scope so please feel free to discuss. When it may not be clear, leave a comment talking about why something is important.
Related Communities
- Medical Community Hub
- Medicine
- Medicine Canada
- Premed
- Premed Canada
- Public Health (📍)
See the pinned post in the Medical Community Hub for links and descriptions. link (!medicine@lemmy.world)
Rules
Given the inherent intersection that these topics have with politics, we encourage thoughtful discussions while also adhering to the mander.xyz instance guidelines.
Try to focus on the scientific aspects and refrain from making overly partisan or inflammatory content
Our aim is to foster a respectful environment where we can delve into the scientific foundations of these topics. Thank you!
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Good. It's not the governments place to ban people from making unhealty decisions when they don't affect others.
In a country with universal healthcare this is simply not true. Smoking increases your risk of many health problems, many of them with very expensive long term treatments. That money could be better spent on increasing access to other aspects of healthcare for everyone.
That’s what taxes are for. Tax the sh*t out of cigarettes to account for the increased public health spending. Banning a substance is not the only, neither the best, solution to addiction.
How far does this go though.... Should we still be able to use asbestos in literally everything? Why not just tax it?
Part of the responsibility of the government is to protect the health of its population, particularly from industries that profit from leeching funding from the public.
Well, asbestos are not banned and they are actually pretty toughly regulated. So maybe find a better analogy.
Pedantry....
I’m sorry my response came out pedantic, it was not my intention. But I stand by my comment. Asbestos hasn’t been fully banned in USA.
Notice how much work the “new uses” is doing in that sentence.
Some articles on it:
(Deadline they missed, again)
https://www.propublica.org/article/asbestos-ban-poisoning-workers-factories
Right, but are we assuming that a ban on nicotine would ban all commercial uses of it, or just the sale of it as a consumable?
Nicotine has plenty of non-consumable applications as well such as its capabilities as a pesticide.
Yes, as a reagent that doesn't come in contact with the general public. They aren't selling asbestos, they're selling a byproduct of one of its chemical reactions.
I yield. Thanks for the information!
Haha, no reason to turn it into a contest or anything. Just two people exchanging different perspectives for educational purposes. Though I do commend you for your mental plasticity. Not many people possess the mental flexibility to change their opinions based on newly introduced information anymore. Cheers.