At 75% of the US population obese and a cost to society in the billions, that's no longer "some subset of the population".
It's long past the point of "people with this issue should take responsibility".
If you enjoy weed, and I think that's fine if you do, you should be able to forsee a future where the weed industry in a capitalist system with few regulations ends up in the same position as the food industry: having created highly addictive and unhealthy products to the point of causing massive and lasting damage to society.
It would be better to smartly regulate early on and avoid the disaster and the predictable overreaction as a result. It is hard to smartly regulate. But worth the investment if you want to continue enjoying something.
And smart regulations don't require a nanny state as you implied. You can still choose to smoke cigarettes. But smoking has declined from 20.9% of adults in 2005 to 11.5% in 2021. Thanks in part to smart regulations and higher taxes.
At the very least we should be willing to tax harmful substances at the same rate at which they cost society.
That's not a nanny state. That's just fair. Why should I pay a part of your choice to smoke cigarettes?
It's long past the point of "people with this issue should take responsibility".
If you enjoy weed, and I think that's fine if you do, you should be able to forsee a future where the weed industry in a capitalist system with few regulations ends up in the same position as the food industry: having created highly addictive and unhealthy products to the point of causing massive and lasting damage to society.
It would be better to smartly regulate early on and avoid the disaster and the predictable overreaction as a result. It is hard to smartly regulate. But worth the investment if you want to continue enjoying something.
And smart regulations don't require a nanny state as you implied. You can still choose to smoke cigarettes. But smoking has declined from 20.9% of adults in 2005 to 11.5% in 2021. Thanks in part to smart regulations and higher taxes.
At the very least we should be willing to tax harmful substances at the same rate at which they cost society.
That's not a nanny state. That's just fair. Why should I pay a part of your choice to smoke cigarettes?