The best way to make cigarettes cool to kids is to make them fully illegal, this is a nonsense law unless you are trying to increase the amount of kids smoking cigarettes.
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Tell everyone that they'll regret it at an early age
Because Prohibition and the War on Drugs worked so well in the US, I guess?
Some parts of this bill, increasing the places where vaping is not permitted in line with smoking, are very welcome.
But bans of addictive substances only result in criminalising people who are addicted and putting them more at risk of harm, because now in addition to lung cancer they'll have black market goons to deal with as well.
Yeahβ¦ Criminalizing shit always worksβ¦
I'm sure this will work as intended.
Why work smart when you can work hard...
why work smart when you can work dumb by repeating old mistakes
New black market incoming
IDK if I'd bother with the black market to acquire cigarettes if they were already illegal when I turned 18. Not the most exciting drug.
So you've never seen an underage person smoke? Kids already ignore the law and get cigarettes from adults or stores that don't bother checking their ID, so it's not even a hypothetical, it's just reality. Prohibition doesn't work
Consider that the UK is becoming more and more of a surveillance-state, though. I doubt that "store clerk 'forgets' to check for ID" is going to stay a thing.
I'm not saying that a black market won't exist, but it's going to become more like buying "hard" illegal drugs is today, i.e. much harder than for drugs that are currently legal for all adults.
I think you have zero clue how easy it is for children to buy hard drugs
I certainly never consciously met someone who would sell me illegal-for-adults drugs as a kid.
I think you overestimate the willingness of most people to buy illegal drugs.
Donβt even need them to be fully illegal to have black market demand. Eric Garner was selling loose (untaxed) cigarettes when the state executed him on the street in 2014. Thereβll be demand for any black market no matter how apparently trivial the prohibition or unappealing the product, especially if the product is addictive.
No but a good cigar with a scotch or a coffee is always good. Occasionally.
Giant bong rips is where it's at, as long as they don't make weed illegal I'm good!
Do you honestly think they aren't going to do that?
Always good occasionally?
5% of the time it's good 100% of the times.
Gotcha. I haven't smoked in years, but a good single malt Scotch or Irish is definitely good with a good chocolate or green. For that matter, I've not drank whiskey in years either, but I can still vividly recall the flavors.
Smoking is already on a consistent, significant decline in the UK.
Risking a black market (let's be clear actually - definitely causing one) hardly seems worth a possible increased rate of decline.
What could go wrong when making laws depending on entire generations
I gave the full title from the get go and haven't changed it. But the preview is funny and maybe it will come to that.
Why not just ban smoking?
Because of the existing addicts. It would create a black market.
If I were to guess, it's because a blanket ban would turn the people who actually go out and vote against you.
I'd've assumed the addiction factor. Forcing an addict to quit could cause stress that won't be present for those who haven't started, yet.
But literally just a guess, on my part.
Because people don't like to be told what to do. Why create a black market when there is already a steep and steady decline?