The recent wave of nonsense to come out of such "enlightened" individuals as New York Mayor Bloomberg includes banning the sale of pop over 16 ounces, taxes on junk food and now these knuckleheads are proposing to force smokers to get a license before they will be "allowed" to purchase tobacco products.
Individuals cannot be trusted to make the "correct" decisions for themselves, the Nanny State thinkers say, so government must make the decisions for you.
This is nothing more than a tax on top of a tax on top of a tax.
What troubles me more than the incessant taxation is the notion that "government knows best" about any and every aspect of our lives.
Despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, the Nanny State Ninnies who believe they are operating on orders from God Himself, continue to press ahead with more and more intrusive legislation designed to control what we say, what we think, and what we can consume.
For example, news from a CBS affiliate in Washington, DC, reveals the following:
“In this week’s PLOS Medicine medical journal, two leading tobacco control advocates debate the merits of the smoker’s license. Simon Chapman, a professor at the University of Sydney, proposes that users would have to apply and pay for a mandatory license in the form of a smartcard that would be shown when buying cigarettes.
Dr. Chapman wrote that it could discourage young people from picking up the habit. In a controversial move, the smartcard would allow the government to limit how many cigarettes a smoker could buy. Professor Chapman suggests 50 per day averaged over two weeks to accommodate heavy smokers.
The anti-smoking activist told the Daily Mail that the sale of tobacco is currently subject to trivial controls compared to other dangerous products that threaten both public and personal safety.”
Ah, yes... there it is, albeit in slightly disguised form... the same tired old mantra used to sell every Nanny State restriction on our Rights and Freedoms...
"If it saves just one life..."
Kids don't start smoking because it's good for them. They start smoking for many reasons, one of which is the "Cool Factor". Despite all the controls and age restrictions we place on alcohol, underage drinkers still manage to get their hands on hooch, don't they? But a "smoking license" will stop kids from smoking?
I'd suggest these wingnuts ought to stop smoking whatever it is they're smoking and live in the real world for a few minutes.
Does any rational, thinking human being really believe adding a license will prevent kids from getting cigarettes?
No, of course not. The only people naive (or is it stupid) enough to believe this will have any effect at all are lunatic left-wing ideologues who haven't lived in the real world for a single second of their entire lives. And having lived in Fantasy Land their entire lives, they magically believe they are qualified to tell others how to live.
They are not.
As Frank Camp wrote, this is
"...asinine, ridiculous, insane, laughable, invasive, patriarchal, insane, unnecessary, insane and useless. That being said, what could be worse, or more laughably inane than a discussion about a “smokers license?” The answer is nothing."
Just Say NO! to the Nanny State.
