[phvunvx]

All drug use has health costs. If healthcare is public or heavily subsidized then the taxpayer has to foot the bill for every unhealthy decision that others make.

We can have a free society where people are free to put whatever they want in their bodies, and to suffer the health outcomes and poverty and combination of those things freely as well, if they make bad decisions.

What we can't afford as a society is to give free health care and UBI to people who choose to destroy their bodies, at the expense of everyone who chooses against their own interests to be productive members of society, assuming there are enough people who wouldn't choose to live on the dole and do drugs if they were legal.

[thatswrong0]

So should we criminalize being obese as well before implementing tax-payer funded healthcare? Yuck.

[lr4444lr]

No, but we could start making them pay more for their airline tickets.

[netizen-936824]

I don't care about the airlines, they're increasing medical costs for the whole system. Obese people have a greater incidence of injury and illness than the non obese population. When the percentage of obese people increases, it furthers the strain on the medical system. This ends up increasing costs and wait times while decreasing quality of service.

[lr4444lr]

You're not wrong, but causality is REALLY hard. What about the obese person who got that way from taking prescribed corticosteroids for a malady that was not his fault?

What about people who got that way before they turned 18 because their parents fed them junk every day, and the window of puberty had closed?

What about alcoholics who are compulsively drinking their calories?

I know there are a lot of people who are just lazy and stupid, but good luck proving that to legal satisfaction.

[netizen-936824]

I don't agree with criminalizing obesity, but I wanted to point out the serious strain it puts our system under. Far more than drug use. Perhaps we shod consider regulating foods and/or having harm reduction education around food and eating habits.

[lr4444lr]

You really want the intrusion of a government bureaucracy in your life telling you how much and which foodstuffs, that are perfectly safe when eaten in moderation, you can buy? Think for a while about how this can go wrong, and about what kind of agency you want over your body.