[hcfman]

Good point bringing up smoking. Why don’t they just make smoking illegal in every country ? Because it’s impractical. Same as this law.

[throwawaythekey]

I find it uncomfortable that so many of the arguments focus on practicality and that so few focus on liberty. It almost seems like a forgotten concept.

[xxs]

The point of smoking is about the origins of the term 'nanny state' [0]:

[0]: https://wordhistories.net/2020/10/03/nanny-state/

[cma]

I agree parents should have the choice for kids using social media, but this example of impracticality is a bit off: cigarettes are illegal for kids in nearly all developed countries.

[matwood]

Smoking is also highly regulated now. It’s almost a surprise to see someone smoking nowadays.

[XorNot]

And yet over half my high school year smoked, and I was absolutely peer pressured to start.

[thaumasiotes]

> Why don’t they just make smoking illegal in every country ? Because it’s impractical.

Is that also the reason they don't make cocaine illegal in every country?

[DavidPiper]

And yet the things they have done have gone a long way to reducing the real harms caused by smoking.

A 5% spread of harm in a population is better than spread across 80% or 90%, etc. Taking action to reduce the surface area of harm, even if 0% is impractical, is beneficial to a functioning society.