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Ridiculous!

Started by Nam, July 19, 2014, 08:25:36 PM

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Berati

Quote from: doorknob on July 22, 2014, 03:17:31 PM
interesting. How many people here would legalize pot I wonder.
I would legalize many drugs that are currently illegal and that is the problem with the settlement above. The negative effects of smoking have been known since way way before the plaintiffs death. He kept smoking anyway and that should mitigate the damage award. Even though it's addictive, he bears some responsibility. 

Lots of the people who are selling legal Pot are now subject to the same legal attack if this precedent stands. I have no problem with pot at all and I think that bankrupting that industry because some people WILL abuse it, and some people WILL suffer medical problems from it's use is not the way to go.

Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

Mermaid

Quote from: doorknob on July 22, 2014, 03:17:31 PM
interesting. How many people here would legalize pot I wonder.
Apples and oranges. Pot doesn't cause almost immediate and powerful addiction and is not used in the same way as tobacco. I am in favor of legalizing it. I am also in favor of FDA regulation of marijuana.
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Berati

Quote from: Mermaid on July 23, 2014, 07:08:52 PM
Apples and oranges. Pot doesn't cause almost immediate and powerful addiction and is not used in the same way as tobacco. I am in favor of legalizing it. I am also in favor of FDA regulation of marijuana.
It's not that the drugs are the same.
Marijuana does have some harmful effects and can be abused. If you allow those who suffer any bad consequences to bankrupt the distributor then you will probably find yourself on the wrong side of the equation somewhere along the line.

I also smoke Pot every now and then and I don't want to see it driven back underground by lawsuits.
BTW, even if this action is successful at destroying the cigarette company. The "success" will drive cigarettes into the illegal market as well since people are not going to stop smoking just because it isn't legal. The "win" is actually a loss IMO.


Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

Solitary

Quote from: Mermaid on July 23, 2014, 07:08:52 PM
Apples and oranges. Pot doesn't cause almost immediate and powerful addiction and is not used in the same way as tobacco. I am in favor of legalizing it. I am also in favor of FDA regulation of marijuana.
Good post! pot is not physically addictive, but tobacco is, and it is not regulated and can have anything added to it that is poisonous. Same for pot. Solitary
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

stromboli

Quote from: doorknob on July 22, 2014, 03:17:31 PM
interesting. How many people here would legalize pot I wonder.

I've been on the legalize pot band wagon for awhile, because my wife has MS. I haven't personally smoked pot for many years, but I certainly would if it were available. I have a lot of aches and pains every day, and it would ease my wife's suffering considerably. She takes everything from anti nausea meds to muscle relaxants to Hydrocodone for her legs and back, and pot would serve to medicate most of that.

The tobacco thing really is ridiculous. How executives with a company that sells demonstrably the deadliest poison on the planet legally can justify it to themselves is beyond me. And probably go to church every sunday.

AllPurposeAtheist

Anyone who can fuck the tobacco industry has my vote. 23 billion in tobacco dollars is chicken feed.. Extremely cheap chicken feed at that.
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

Solitary

TOO MUCH! According to TobaccoAtlas.org (PDF files), the top six tobacco producing companies in the world made $346,200,000,000 in the year 2008. That's just for one year! Solitary
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

Berati

Quote from: Solitary on July 24, 2014, 11:55:09 AM
TOO MUCH! According to TobaccoAtlas.org (PDF files), the top six tobacco producing companies in the world made $346,200,000,000 in the year 2008. That's just for one year! Solitary

That's revenue, not profit. Profit was about 1/10th of that or around $35 billion for six companies.
I'm not in favour of tobacco, however, people who chose to smoke (or chose any other non healthy thing) chose the risks that go with it. Warning labels about the dangers of smoking have been mandated since the early 70's. Advertising has also been banned for decades. I can't see how anyone can claim they were duped into smoking.

I would legalize and control many other drugs apart from tobacco, but if you simply want to bankrupt any manufacturer or distributor then we are going to go right back to a black market and that solution is worse IMO.



Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

Nam

Quote from: Berati on July 28, 2014, 12:50:00 PM
That's revenue, not profit. Profit was about 1/10th of that or around $35 billion for six companies.
I'm not in favour of tobacco, however, people who chose to smoke (or chose any other non healthy thing) chose the risks that go with it. Warning labels about the dangers of smoking have been mandated since the early 70's. Advertising has also been banned for decades. I can't see how anyone can claim they were duped into smoking.

I would legalize and control many other drugs apart from tobacco, but if you simply want to bankrupt any manufacturer or distributor then we are going to go right back to a black market and that solution is worse IMO.

Have you seen my second topic?

http://atheistforums.com/index.php?topic=5287.msg1022731#msg1022731

-Nam
Mad cow disease...it's not just for cows, or the mad!

Shol'va

You know what? I would be in favor of no longer going after the tobacco companies if their own revenue was used to care for those that developed diseases directly linked to their smoking. I'm willing to bet such legislation would make them think twice about pushing their poison.

Nam

Quote from: Shol'va on July 28, 2014, 03:44:52 PM
You know what? I would be in favor of no longer going after the tobacco companies if their own revenue was used to care for those that developed diseases directly linked to their smoking. I'm willing to bet such legislation would make them think twice about pushing their poison.

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/tobacco-company-paid-for-lung-cancer-research/14732

-Nam
Mad cow disease...it's not just for cows, or the mad!

Berati

Quote from: Shol'va on July 28, 2014, 03:44:52 PM
You know what? I would be in favor of no longer going after the tobacco companies if their own revenue was used to care for those that developed diseases directly linked to their smoking. I'm willing to bet such legislation would make them think twice about pushing their poison.

Already been done in 1998.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Master_Settlement_Agreement

From the article:
Quote"the companies agreed to curtail or cease certain tobacco marketing practices, as well as to pay, in perpetuity, various annual payments to the states to compensate them for some of the medical costs of caring for persons with smoking-related illnesses. The money also funds a new anti-smoking advocacy group, called the American Legacy Foundation, that is responsible for such campaigns as The Truth. The settlement also dissolved the tobacco industry groups Tobacco Institute, the Center for Indoor Air Research, and the Council for Tobacco Research. In the MSA, the original participating manufacturers (OPM) agreed to pay a minimum of $206 billion over the first twenty-five years of the agreement."
Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

AllPurposeAtheist

#27
Oh knock it off.. Fuck those cocksuckers. They've been dealing death for far to long and the settlement was a slap on the wrist. Their product is nearly all profit. It's not like they have to mine and refine ore to roll cigarettes and they successfully fought any legislation to slow them at every front till the 70s. If they had their way they'd make smoking mandatory for school children. In fact they were found to be giving free cigarettes out in schools overseas..
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

Nam

Quote from: AllPurposeAtheist on July 28, 2014, 07:44:27 PM
Oh knock it off.. Fuck those cocksuckers. They've been dealing death for far to long and the settlement was a slap on the wrist. Their product is nearly all profit. It's not like they have to mine and refine ore to roll cigarettes and they successfully fought any legislation to slow them at every front till the 70s. If they had their way they'd make smoking mandatory for school children. In fact they were found to be giving free cigarettes out in schools overseas..

I believe your last part and I source my second topic (link above) as evidence.

-Nam
Mad cow disease...it's not just for cows, or the mad!

AllPurposeAtheist

Fuck it..I can't argue with anyone who even tries to remotely defend the tobacco companies after they've knowingly killed millions upon millions of people and will continue to. They ought to be shot at sunrise, every fucking one of them..
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.