You must not have read my post very closely. I said I have never smoked a single solitary cigarette in my entire life, and I will never smoke one. I think smoking is stupid, and dirty and disgusting. On the other hand, if people want to be stupid, and endanger their own health, they have that freedom. It is not against the law to be stupid. I think you are right, that being addicted means people have less freedom, because the cigarettes enslave them, but again, it is not against the law to be stupid.
Of course I did. And I repeat: Using your "freedom" to become enslaved is a rather odd thing for a sane person to do.
It is not against the law to be stupid.
Of course it is. Most people don't intend to lose control of their automobile and crash, possibly injuring or killing themselves and others, because they're fooling with a cigarette or a cell phone. But they do, because they're STUPID. And it's against the law to be stupid, foolish and reckless.
And you may also have heard the adage "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." You have a responsibility as a citizen to be informed, to know what your rights are as well as your obligations. In fact, if there's one thing the founders continued to harp on, it was the RESPONSIBILITIES of the citizen to maintain liberty, and to do their part in the civic arena. They spoke about freedom in VASTLY different ways than we hear gabbled about by the Libertines here and elsewhere. They thought liberty was anything but free, and that it carried heavy obligations and responsibilities.
The liberty that we enjoy ceases to have meaning when we mistake it for license.