Pax, I have to say I disagree. If you go up to a person you know has a gambling addiction, and present them the opportunity to gamble so you can personally gain from it, you should be held responsible. Predatory marketing tactics such as these should be suable.

Same with the super-unhealthy fast food.

I dunno Bob...what you describe regarding gambling happens all the time, how else do you explain Las Vegas? What would be your solution? Ban all advertising with regards to substances/activites that can be compulsive? I'm sorry to sound harsh, but some people are weak, and they will have to pay for their weaknesses. It can't be the government's job to make sure nothing that could possibly harm them ever reaches their doorstep.

And Mark, about your point concerning marijuana, from a Libertarian perspective, I would say there is nothing wrong with legalizing highly-addictive, dangerous narcotics. People who want to throw their lives away on these substances should get that choice. It is hard to argue that making laws against these substances has helped make society a better place. The only argument that I can understand against legalizing pot/cocaine/heroin in contrast to tobacco/alcohol/fast food is the "intended use" argument. If you use marijuana as intended you will get high and your higher-functioning will be altered. Same with cocaine and same with heroin. HOWEVER, the purpose of eating fast food is not to affect one's mental faculties, same with cigarettes. Also alcohol, consumed in reasonable amounts as intended, does not significantly impair your mental faculties. One could argue that it is in the best interest of our society to outlaw products whose sole purpose is to incapacitate the citizenry. I am torn between these two arguments, I haven't really made up my mind...

You cant group legalizing marijuana with legalizing heroin/cocaine.Those are three way different drugs.

I still do not get the point people usually use that marijuana will ruin your life or you will be throwing your life away by using it.That couldnt be farther from the truth.Personally I dont think it will be legalized,especially with amsterdam supposedly tightening up their laws and having a fine for possesion over a certain amount of grams.Canada flirted with it, but who knows.

Really if u gave everybody in the united states some truth syrum and asked them if they have smoked weed?The results would probabbly be surprising, I personally know a bunch of people in very important jobs and situations that use...they dont abuse it though.That is the point.

Anything you do in excess can be detrimental to your health or whatever.Even working out too much can affect your body and mind negatively.

People just need to be smart and make a decision.If you are going to eat fast food, or get drunk/high dont do it in excess.

Yeah, I am going to have to agree with Imprezu here. Marijuana should be legalized, its affects are similar to those of alcohol and smoking, and it is not highly addictive (habitual and addictive are two very different things). As for heroin/cocain, those should stay illegal.

Marijuana is so similar to smoking and drinking that it is hypocritical not to allow it, either ban it all or at least be fair. (See I don't have to argue with you EVERY time).

Pax, there's a difference between the government being paternalistic (Which it shouldn't) and the government simply prohibiting exploitative behavior.

First of all, you haven't responded to my "What if they get them addicted before they have the emotional maturity to make a fully informed, rational decision" question. If they market to young kids and get them addicted before they really have an adult choice in the matter...that isn't what I call 'making your own choice'.

Second of all, you seem to deny the impact of misrepresentation of facts. Not all people know that cigarette companies add ingredients whose sole purpose is to make their product more addictive. I don't think smoking should be illegal (As long as I never have to inhale the second hand), but the 18 year old thing is good, and they shouldn't be able to target their marketting at kids, and they definetely should be forced to make full disclosure available and easy to find.

It isn't 'making a free choice for yourself that ends up hurting you' unless all the information is objectively presented to you and you're making the decision as an emotionally mature, rational adult.

This has a lot to do with the topic, but not as much with the discussion.

• Each day, one in four Amerians visits a fast-food restaurant.
  
• Obesity-related illnesses will kill around 400,000 Americans in 2005, almost as many as smoking
  
• It takes seven hours of straight walking to burn off a supersized Coke, fries, and a Big Mac.
  
• In the United States, we eat more than one million animals an hour.
  
• Most nutritionists recommend not eating fast food more than once a month.
  
• One out of every three American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes from poor dietary habits.

Just thought that I would throw that out there.

I don't really see why smoking is even being talked about anymore. I thought that it was clear that these companies are taking advantage of its consumers, targeting children and making profit off of the deaths of others.

Smoking came up as an analogy to fast food eating.

As you said, obesity and smoking kill about as many people per year as each other.

First of all Bob, about your question "What if they get them addicted before they have the emotional maturity to make a fully informed, rational decision," my response would be, "It is the parents' fault because parents should be in charge of making decisions for their kids when the kid cannot make an informed, rational decision." I realize it is not always the case that children have involved parents who are capable of making these decisions, but that is too bad...cigarette and fast food companies are profit-seeking firms, not parents.

Second, about marijuana vs cocaine & heroin, as I said before, I think they should all be legalized. I acknowledge that cocaine and heroin are much more addictive/destructive than marijuana, but you'd have to be quite naive to think people who try heroin and cocaine don't know that those substances might be bad for them. Throwing away your life on drugs is not necessarily a bad choice, it is just a choice that prioritizes short term benefits over long term benefits. People should have the right to make that decision.

Third, about Mike's reference to fast food (which I guess this forum is supposed to be about), I eat fast food all the time, but I am still in great shape because I'm young, and I exercise for hours everyday. Walk 7 hours? Why don't you just run for 30 minutes? When I get old and my metabolism slows down, I will probably stop eating as much junk food. The fact that "One out of every three American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes from poor dietary habits" just shows how bad the parents of "one out of three American children born in 2000" are. Watch what your children are eating and quit blaming corporations for all your problems.

And Mike/Bob, last of all, the effects of marijuana are NOT similar to tobacco and alcohol. This goes back to my "intended use" argument. Alcohol and tobacco, if used properly, will not affect behavior. However, marijuana if used as intended, WILL affect behavior. One could argue society has an interest in making laws against things that, when used as intended, cause a significant decline in people's faculties.

I am enjoying Morgan Spurlock's show "30 Days" on FX too...Kind of the same idea as super size me, but with different topics...Like a Christian goes to live as a Muslim for 30 days, a straight man lives as a gay man...etc...Really thought-provoking and I can't get enough of the handle bar moustache!

I enjoyed it, Morgan Spurlock has some good ideas and does everything he can to fight for the truth, although his wife the vegan is from Eugene, which probably perpetuated some stereotypes...

I'm a pretty republican guy, but I still loved Super Size Me.

I agree with the stuff about pop machines in school. Kids aren't adults. They are young and dumb, and need to be forced to do things. Good nutrition is something that should be forced upon them.