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Our beloved (I hope) country has a history of trying to legislate morality, or the morality of the day and what was perceived as proper behavior. Presently, with morality out of favor, it tries to legislate what is perceived as healthy behavior. This is in addition to, but given the same importance as, laws against actual crimes in which the victims were not volunteers.
Thus in the last century we had Prohibition for a period of years, leading to a nation of bootleggers and criminals (not just Al Capone, but great numbers of ordinary citizens) until its repeal. We had laws against gambling in nearly all places that were not Las Vegas or race tracks, leading to a nation of gambling kingpins and lawbreakers (besides Al Capone) until the allowance of casinos where people who chose to play games of risk could do so legally.
We presently have anti-drug laws, which have led to huge prison and jail populations (those of our "free" country being among the highest per capita in the world) of young people found with marijuana in their possession, and a class of powerful, dangerous and greatly enriched drug dealers (Al Capone being dead by this time). This has also led to the unconstitutional practice of drug-testing in order for Americans to get almost any job in a free society.
The increasing loss of individual and private business freedoms due to the present rabid anti-smoking crusade was headed in the same direction for years and has arrived at the level of government control we knew it would. We never learn. Tobacco would be illegal by now if it wasn't such a cash cow for the tax collectors of our two-faced government.
In older times, our people could be arrested for going night-clubbing on a Saturday night or participating in a floating crap game. In modern times they can be arrested for growing pot in their gardens or carrying any drug for personal use in their suitcases or cars. (Presumably, the constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure disappeared when we weren't looking.) Since we can be thrown in jail for smoking pot, we might be grateful that tobacco is still a legally grown and legally sold product supplied to a legal market, but we can hear the marching feet of dictatorship. On the other hand, will this lead to such things as smoking-cessation needs being covered by medical insurance, or a rise in withdrawal clinics and Betty Ford centers for addicted smokers? Don't hold your breath. There was no A.A. in 1920.
What's next? Come see the handwriting on the wall. The next scheduled scapegoat for all of America's ills (literally now) is obesity. The noise of marching has started. Watch for new laws against selling or possessing all kinds of fat-laden goodies like butter (along with subsidies paid to dairy farmers for not producing butter, of course), the possible outlawing of Krispy Kreme donuts (as soon as they know from outlawing cigarettes that they can get away with that, too), and new restrictions on the legitimate restaurant business against selling platters of food that could feed a family of 6 to one person for dinner. (Admittedly, that one makes sense but is still nobody's business except the restaurant's.) Yes, it can happen here, as illustrated by all that has gone before.
(Inserting an update here. The previous paragraph was written in 2008. Did I predict the future well, or not?)
What is a government that encourages, pampers and protects sexual perversion and the killing of the unborn doing in the business of legislating morality or health, anyway? Good question.
Hard answer.
Thanks for reading.