• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Philip Morris told to pay 8 mln in smoker's death

Just curious...

Have any alcohol distillers, brewers, or distributors ever successfully been sued for medical conditions related to alcoholism? How about cirrhosis of the liver?

My uncle died of alcoholism three years ago. His home was littered with hundreds of gallon wine jugs. Could the family successfully sue Gallo?

:confused:
 
Riding a bike is not an activity associated with specific hazards. Nobody rides a bike thinking they'll be hit by a truck. It simply happens but one could be hit by a truck, fall off, . However having unprotected sex and smoking leads to SPECIFIC health problems.

And to further expound on this...when riding a bike, by observing simple safety measures and not riding your bike where trucks happen to be, you can assure yourself that you will not be harmed.

That is not the case for smoking. There is no way to "safely smoke".
 
Just curious...

Have any alcohol distillers, brewers, or distributors ever successfully been sued for medical conditions related to alcoholism? How about cirrhosis of the liver?

My uncle died of alcoholism three years ago. His home was littered with hundreds of gallon wine jugs. Could the family successfully sue Gallo?

:confused:

Depends. What kind of effort did your uncle make to get off his habit? Did he make any effort? This lawsuit has been in the works for 11 years so unless you have a lot of information on when his drinking habit started and that it was the drinking of a specific alcohol that killed him then I doubt it.
 
And to further expound on this...when riding a bike, by observing simple safety measures and not riding your bike where trucks happen to be, you can assure yourself that you will not be harmed.

That is not the case for smoking. There is no way to "safely smoke".

You're right. I don't like it when people compare activities that have nothing to do with addiction to an addiction. It kind of degrades the situation people who have addictions are in. When was the last time you heard of somebody knocking at a McDonald's at 3 am for a BigMac?
 
Breathing O2 can not make you sick. Ever.

Yes, actually, it can. Too much of anything is never good for you. That includes O2 which you most certainly do NOT want to have too much of. Not to mention the toxic effects of it when breathed at depth. So, you can't really say "ever", that would be patently false.

But, "air" isn't O2 anyway. Only a percentage of it is O2.
 
Last edited:
You're right. I don't like it when people compare activities that have nothing to do with addiction to an addiction. It kind of degrades the situation people who have addictions are in. When was the last time you heard of somebody knocking at a McDonald's at 3 am for a BigMac?

Ummm...actually, I know what you meant, but trust me, I've seen it.

Drunk frat kids. They do pretty much anything you expect a person not to do. :lol:
 
You're right. I don't like it when people compare activities that have nothing to do with addiction to an addiction. It kind of degrades the situation people who have addictions are in. When was the last time you heard of somebody knocking at a McDonald's at 3 am for a BigMac?

Been there, done that.

Obviously y'all have never heard of food addictions huh? Video game addictions? Gambling addictions?
 
Yes, actually, it can. Too much of anything is never good for you. That includes O2 which you most certainly do NOT want to have too much of. Not to mention the toxic effects of it when breathed at depth. So, you can't really say "ever", that would be patently false.

You mean air can make you sick? You mean that which you are breathing right now but are not getting sick from? Breathing oxygen can not make a person sick. Breathing oxygen at depth can make you sick but this is conditional on a person being at depth. How many times a day do you breathe oxygen at depth? A month? A year? Sorry. The comparison falls flat on it's face because it is based on probability and preconditions.
 
Been there, done that.

Obviously y'all have never heard of food addictions huh? Video game addictions? Gambling addictions?

There's no addictive substance in ANY of those thing you just cited. Which is why, once again the comparison falls very flat on it's face.
 
You mean air can make you sick? You mean that which you are breathing right now but are not getting sick from? Breathing oxygen can not make a person sick.
LOL Yes, it CAN.

In humans breathing 100 percent oxygen at normal pressure, here's what happens:

* Fluid accumulates in the lungs.
* Gas flow across the alveoli slows down, meaning that the person has to breathe more to get enough oxygen.
* Chest pains occur during deep breathing.
* The total volume of exchangeable air in the lung decreases by 17 percent.
* Mucus plugs local areas of collapsed alveoli -- a condition called atelectasis. The oxygen trapped in the plugged alveoli gets absorbed into the blood, no gas is left to keep the plugged alveoli inflated, and they collapse. Mucus plugs are normal, but they are cleared by coughing. If alveoli become plugged while breathing air, the nitrogen trapped in the alveoli keeps them inflated.


We don't breathe O2. We breathe Air which is a mixture of O2 and mostly Nitrogen with some trace amounts of other gases.

Breathing oxygen at depth can make you sick but this is conditional on a person being at depth. How many times a day do you breathe oxygen at depth? A month? A year? Sorry. The comparison falls flat on it's face because it is based on probability and preconditions.
Quite a bit, actually. For several weeks prior to moving back to WV, I breathed air at depth 2 -3 times a day. In about a month, I'll be breathing it at depth 3 - 4 times a day for a couple months, and after that I'll be breathing it at depth for a living.

Really doesn't matter though, because too much of anything is harmful. And people that overdo it hurt themselves. And when information about the dangers is out there, there is NO ONE to blame but themselves.
 
There's no addictive substance in ANY of those thing you just cited. Which is why, once again the comparison falls very flat on it's face.

I'm no expert but I think some food additives can be somewhat addictive.

I don't think it matters though. As long as the company isn't hiding the risks or something then it is your responsbility.

As if you'd eat at McDonald's anyway, I prefer a nice Vindaloo.
 
There's no addictive substance in ANY of those thing you just cited. Which is why, once again the comparison falls very flat on it's face.

So, there's no such thing as gambling addictions? or addictions to food?

An addiction MUST be to a chemical and nothing more?
 
I'm no expert but I think some food additives can be somewhat addictive.
Caffeine most certainly is, without a doubt. And we have a nation full of addicts.

I don't think it matters though. As long as the company isn't hiding the risks or something then it is your responsbility.
Absolutely agree, 100%
 
That is not the case for smoking. There is no way to "safely smoke".

Perhaps... but what's the point? There are many activities which are inherently unhealthy. For instance, there's no way to "safely emit automobile emissions." Like cigarette smoke, auto exhaust is a poison. It's a carcinogen. And every time you get a whiff of car exhaust, or bus exhaust, or lawn-mower exhaust, you're doing some damage to your health. The same can be said for wood-burning or coal-burning fireplaces. They are inherently polluting, and many millions of human beings have died over the centuries from inhaling these toxins.

And while there are some studies indicating that alcohol, in moderation, might be beneficial to our health, I think the overwhelming evidence would indicate that alcoholism, as a whole, causes vastly more damage than the benefits gained by moderate drinkers.

What we have agreed to, as a society, at least for now, is that the health risks from combustion engines, or wood-burning fireplaces, or even alcohol are insufficient to 'ban' these activities, when weighted against the advantages.

So while smoking may be the target now... it's easy to see other activities targeted soon after. (Need I mention trans-fatty-acid bans?)

As I see it, banning unhealthy products is a poor-man's short-cut to the much more difficult task of reducing the activities and bad habits that promote them.
 
LOL Yes, it CAN.

No it can not. And after you're done looking for any way to prove your non-point I'll explain why :

In humans breathing 100 percent oxygen at normal pressure, here's what happens:

* Fluid accumulates in the lungs.
* Gas flow across the alveoli slows down, meaning that the person has to breathe more to get enough oxygen.
* Chest pains occur during deep breathing.
* The total volume of exchangeable air in the lung decreases by 17 percent.
* Mucus plugs local areas of collapsed alveoli -- a condition called atelectasis. The oxygen trapped in the plugged alveoli gets absorbed into the blood, no gas is left to keep the plugged alveoli inflated, and they collapse. Mucus plugs are normal, but they are cleared by coughing. If alveoli become plugged while breathing air, the nitrogen trapped in the alveoli keeps them inflated.

:rofl - You've gone so far out of loop to prove your non-point that you failed to read what he actually wrote and just went with what you hoped he said. He said AIR. Not 100% oxygen. THUS proving why you never had a dog in this fight. Breathing air can not make you sick. breathing 100% Oxygen can. But 100% Oxygen is NOT air.

We don't breathe O2. We breathe Air which is a mixture of O2 and mostly Nitrogen with some trace amounts of other gases.

So then we do not breathe 100% oxygen.

Quite a bit, actually. For several weeks prior to moving back to WV, I breathed air at depth 2 -3 times a day. In about a month, I'll be breathing it at depth 3 - 4 times a day for a couple months, and after that I'll be breathing it at depth for a living.

Really doesn't matter though, because too much of anything is harmful. And people that overdo it hurt themselves. And when information about the dangers is out there, there is NO ONE to blame but themselves.

And you make which percentage of the population? Wait. Forget that. What percentage of the population breathes at depth 2-3 times a day? See why you've got no point what so ever? Once again. You comparison falls flat on it's face because it is based on pure anecdotal evidence. Not backed by real statistic but a CONDITION.
 
So, there's no such thing as gambling addictions?

No.

Psych Central - Gambling Addiction or Greed?

An article in today's Boston Globe questions the link between the gambling industry and Harvard Medical School. Rightfully so. I read the article with a critical eye but kept my mind open. After all, pathological gambling (it is not recognized as an addiction, though) has been around as an official, recognized disorder diagnosis for over a decade (and known by researchers before that).

But Harvard researchers affiliated with the Institute for Research on Pathological Gamling and Related Disorders take it one step further -- they believe gambling is an addiction, like alcoholism or a coke addict. This is a hotly contested topic within the addictions field. Many researchers feel that behavior disorders, such as pathological gambling, should not be classified as addictions -- ever -- because it's confusing the terminology and clouds what most people consider an "addiction.
" Harvard researchers believe, however, that gambling is indeed an addiction and point to the studies they've funded that back up their assertion.

or addictions to food?

Show me the addictive substances in the food then we'll talk. You can not be addicted to sandwiches. You can claim you are. But that doesn't make it so.

An addiction MUST be to a chemical and nothing more?

Who said this?
 
I know, I know. Kick those smoker's asses for not being libertarian enough. Ron Paul can help them too. Blah blah blah.

Nope. Ron Paul can't help them. Neither can anyone else. But they can help themselves if they want to badly enough.
 
No it can not. And after you're done looking for any way to prove your non-point I'll explain why :



:rofl - You've gone so far out of loop to prove your non-point that you failed to read what he actually wrote and just went with what you hoped he said. He said AIR. Not 100% oxygen. THUS proving why you never had a dog in this fight. Breathing air can not make you sick. breathing 100% Oxygen can. But 100% Oxygen is NOT air.
YOU said O2. YOU said breathing O2 cannot make you sick.

I wasn't responding to him. I was responding to your erroneous response to him.

So then we do not breathe 100% oxygen.
No **** sherlock. Did you get that from my post wherein I stated that very fact to you?


And you make which percentage of the population? Wait. Forget that. What percentage of the population breathes at depth 2-3 times a day? See why you've got no point what so ever? Once again. You comparison falls flat on it's face because it is based on pure anecdotal evidence. Not backed by real statistic but a CONDITION.
Umm.. the whole point was that YOU said that breathing O2 can NEVER make you sick. EVER. That's what you said, and you are patently WRONG. I stated nothing at all with regard to statistics on how many people die or get ill from oxygen toxicity, because it doesn't matter. All that matters with regard to my proving your statement wrong is that people can and do.
 
Some diseases are transmitted via airborne pathogens, so breathing air can make you sick.
 
Some diseases are transmitted via airborne pathogens, so breathing air can make you sick.

Breathing those pathogens makes you sick. Not breathing air.
 
Back
Top Bottom