Smoking isn't a sin.

All conservatives should take up smoking, imposing as many costs upon the big government socialist welfare state as we can we can cause it to collapse, in the same manner defense spending in the 80's hastend the demise of the USSR.

Brandon:

Ill-treating yourself and others is.

Brandon and OJ:

Smoking may, but need not be, a sin. Addiction is sinful. But would OJ regard the pipe-smoking of, say, J. R. R. Tolkien a sin?

Ill-treating yourself isn't a sin, sometimes it is considered holy. And the comment that ill-treating other coming from such a determined witch-hunter is laughable.

Paul:

Died of a respiratory ailment, no?

Brndon:

Yes, that's why we're commanded to hunt them, their endeavor to ill-treat others.

Did he really? Wow, if so, that was an unfortunate example on my part. But didn't I see you give a qualified nod to pipe smoking in one of these debates?

Moderation would, of course, be the key, but the addictive nature of nicotine makes long term moderation implausible for most.

Nicotine is as addictive as cocaine, far more so than alcohol or pot. However, nothing makes you pick up that first cigarette. That is your choice.

The notion that it should be outlawed is insane, and doomed to failure just like Prohibition and the War on Drugs, unless you consider the exponential growth of organized crime to be a social benefit.

But then the professional Puritans would suck out all the pleasures of life, leaving us with eating nothing but unsalted vegetable broth, drinking nothing but hot water, and doing nothing but hymn singing and snooping on each other.

Bart -- I can't say I believe in prohibition, either.

But, as I get older, I am realizing how much time we lose to entertainment and how much money we waste on pleasures.

My grandfather tells me the story of how he used to stand at his aunt's sewing machine in the Ukraine and make up stories by the hour. She sat there and sewed for her family, his family, and the many others that stayed in my great grandfather's house (who was a Mennonite lay minister, among many other things).

I wouldn't trade my life for what he had in the U.S.S.R., but I am trying to limit it's "distractions" so I can write better and enjoy life more.

I don't think Mennonites and Puritans and Amish would necessarily agree with your assessment.

I'd be interested in hearing a debate between OJ and Dennis Prager, who is a cigar smoker. Prager believes that smoking is definitely not a sin, and tirades against the anti smoking campaigns of leftists as an example of the kind of morality that reigns when people lose sight of what is truly evil. I'd be interested to hear Prager defend his position against a conservative. You should call his show OJ.

There are many behaviors that can cause one to neglect that which is most important in life. Internet addiction falls in that category. It is very easy to fall into it and neglect to spend that time with your family - especially when your family relationships may be strained, it is an easy escape that make the problems worse. I had to face that myself. My wife was about ready to smash the computer with a hammer.

This study can be discarded where my baby's diapers go: they neglected to look at the immense social security savings, which evens out the equation for society.

Smoking isn't a sin nor, depending upon the circumstances, is harming yourself and others.

The costs set forth here seem high, but as they are born by the smoker almost completely, they should not be a societal concern.

OJ: We're all going to die of something.

Dying is good, self-murder bad.

Orrin, when did you ever hear a smoker say he/she smoked because they were trying to kill themselves? Why do you liken this to suicide more than, say, extreme sports or living in a polluted city? Suicide is an intent to die, not a neighbour's judgment on health or lifestyle.

Peter:

We ban extreme sports types too, all those BASE idiots.