Lebanese Youth: Drugs, Alcohol and Smoke.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Originally Posted by Inanna

the civil war is one of the main reasons why morality starts to vanish, i once heard an expert saying, if you want to destroy the values, you have to introduce bad manners that only come with a war!

The need to be culturally westernized is the main reason for the decline in morality. Morality is worse now than it ever was during the war years.

It's funny the way people talk about taking drugs so casually now, like it's the norm. Drug users are the excrement of every society and if we had a sensible justice system run by sensible public servants in Lebanon, drug users would be locked up behind bars and lashed a few times to help wake them out of their slumber. My advise is if you're not content with reality, then save yourself the humilation and just commit suicide.

[General my General!]

Originally Posted by Commodore

Governments make so much money off cigarette sales which makes me strongly doubt that they are interested in fighting this epidemic.

Nicotine is deadly, and it kills more people than any other drug. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, 5 million die per year from smoking. It's no joke.

The majority of smokers want to quit, but the problem with nicotine is that it's VERY addictive. More addictive than any other drug I've tried. Weed was 50 times better, and I had no problem leaving it. Nicotine on the other hand humiliates those addicted to it.

To start, TV ads for Cigarettes should be banned. These ads, which depict smoking as 'sexy', are nothing but death ads. Yellow teeth, poor blood circulation, cancer, and being smelly aren't sexy.

Next, raise the taxation. People have quit in countries where the taxes on cigarettes were raised.

Finally, educate the youth. Outlawing drugs is counter productive. It makes the drug more expensive, puts it on the black market, results in combining the source for soft and hard drugs, and increases the crime rate related to drugs. The best approach according to ALL studies on drugs is treatment which also happens to be cheaper ($$) for society.

Cheers.

Good post. I'd go with taxation first, as it is the one and only method proven to decrease use in almost any situation...especially in the 2 target groups most harmed by tobacco smoking - the youth and the poor.

Nicotine is as addictive (or slightly more) than cocaine and heroin. Marijuana doesn't even compare...actually if anything...tobacco should be banned, and Marijuana legalized! seriously!!!

Govts. do make a lot off tobacco sales, but hey, with higher taxes they will probably make even more - even when you compensate for decreased use.

Economics and Tobacco is a complicated issue....
-On the one hand> govt. makes money off tobacco taxes in the short term, but in the long term, it will have to pay as much and even more to account for the health impact tobacco will have on its citizens, particularly for chronic diseases.

-On the other hand> Anti-tobacco advocates will claim that if tobacco is cut, it will save the state a lot of $$$ in the long run, as the state will have less chronic diseases and health impact from tobacco. HOWEVER, this is inaccurate, because since tobacco kills people earlier than expected, it means it saves off expenses that would have been spent on elderly healthcare. So for most countries, you would save as much from tobacco cuts as you will spend from more elderly later.

Bottom line is...the economic argument should be used only at the individual level (eg.cigarettes are costing you 100$ a month), but not at the state level...because it simply ain't true, and tobacco companies know that and will use it against you.

Ultimately, there are many many reasons and arguments to give to cut tobacco use, among them health and the deceit of tobacco industry.

Cheers!

[lady_forever]

Originally Posted by General my General!

Good post. I'd go with taxation first, as it is the one and only method proven to decrease use in almost any situation...especially in the 2 target groups most harmed by tobacco smoking - the youth and the poor.

Nicotine is as addictive (or slightly more) than cocaine and heroin. Marijuana doesn't even compare...actually if anything...tobacco should be banned, and Marijuana legalized! seriously!!!

Govts. do make a lot off tobacco sales, but hey, with higher taxes they will probably make even more - even when you compensate for decreased use.

Economics and Tobacco is a complicated issue....
-On the one hand> govt. makes money off tobacco taxes in the short term, but in the long term, it will have to pay as much and even more to account for the health impact tobacco will have on its citizens, particularly for chronic diseases.

-On the other hand> Anti-tobacco advocates will claim that if tobacco is cut, it will save the state a lot of $$$ in the long run, as the state will have less chronic diseases and health impact from tobacco. HOWEVER, this is inaccurate, because since tobacco kills people earlier than expected, it means it saves off expenses that would have been spent on elderly healthcare. So for most countries, you would save as much from tobacco cuts as you will spend from more elderly later.

Bottom line is...the economic argument should be used only at the individual level (eg.cigarettes are costing you 100$ a month), but not at the state level...because it simply ain't true, and tobacco companies know that and will use it against you.

Ultimately, there are many many reasons and arguments to give to cut tobacco use, among them health and the deceit of tobacco industry.

Cheers!

Though i am a smoker but i totally agree with you...would like to add one question how come cig in Lebanon are really cheap though in other countries very high is the difference of cost applied on them through taxation or they get the lowest tobacco to lebanon??