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Comment by crdb | Hacker News Reader

This is a false equivalence. Pot smoking is victimless (at most, your landlord will need to get rid of the smell for the next non-smoking tenant). Murder has, by definition, serious consequences for someone else.

In a legal system whose premise is that one should be free to do anything so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others, it it consistent to legalise pot and keep murder illegal.

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"at most, your landlord will need to get rid of the smell for the next non-smoking tenant"

And while you're there, will need to find a way to get rid of the smell for everyone in a 500 feet radius (im exaggerating, of course).

While I'm absolutely ok with it being legal, and it certainly should not be a criminal offense...it at least should follow rules similar to tobacco with a twist. That shit can seriously ruin the day of everyone living around. Entire city parks are becoming impossible to go through unless you're looking for a contact high.

So it definitely does not deserve to be a crazy SWAT team involved criminal offense, but victimless, not quite.

It is my opinion that it should definitely be illegal to smoke (anything) on public property. Landlords should be able to choose (via terms in a lease) whether or not it is okay to smoke on their property.

Just to nitpick, I shouldn't be allowed to smoke a cigar around a campfire on BLM land?

I was thinking more in public places where there are other members of the public within a reasonable proximity, but I will grant you a valid point. My general proposal does not need to apply to every situation. Though defining the exact circumstances wherein someone may and may not smoke on public land may not be worth the hassle, and a blanket ban might be preferable to some endlessly complex regulation... something to think about, though. For your own health, please consider putting the cigar down, though :)

Actually, in that scenario, the campfire is more likely to be a health threat to asthmatic members of the public (about 7% in the U.S.) than the cigar!

yes, that was the twist :)

I wasn't trying to equate murder with drug use.

The parent question asked for a counter example of where the law makes no difference in the offence.

The parent question appeared to me to be making that statement irrespective of what the law was. So I just picked the most extreme form of law I could think of.

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