Think of it this way.
Cigarettes kill and shopkeepers are still allowed to sell those.
Do you do anything about the life of others in your local since you made this point ->
I thought long and hard before posting, because I didn't want my post to become politicized. And here we go...
But let's go a step further. How about Heroin? Opium? Plutonium? Do you think it's ok for somebody to sell a truckload of semtex, just because they state they're "desperate"?
The law is an (albeit clumsy) method of typifying actions that may be hurtful to others. Sure, you may argue it's far from perfect, but it's the best we have. Last time I checked, running a scam was against the law.
And no, since I posted I haven't moved a finger to hurt anybody.
- I doubt that.
Well, maybe you're very young, but yes, it's the masses that forced the governments of the whole world, actually (not only the US) to move against cigarettes. They may not have been entirely successful in getting them banned, but they sure got a lot of legislation going.
- I wouldn't want to be the judge of that (Maybe you can)
Can the government do anything to the gambling website or cigarette company that has stated the warning or Terms and conditions beforehand?
- I don't think so.
Let me ask you this: do you think is ok to cite "desperation" as a justification for committing a crime? Besides most (if not all) legal systems in the world specifically saying it's not a valid legal argument (with very few exceptions), do you think is ok for somebody to cause the same (or worse) desperation on another human being, "just because" they're having a hard time?
And yes, as somebody who has been in really bad shape many times, and who has been offered illegal "solutions" countless times, I think I can definitely be the judge of it.
I've been unemployed for over a year and a half, had a stroke last year (that doctors have, so far, refused to treat, so my "treatment" is an aspirin a day, and a 60 block walk every night), I'm down to one meal a day (as I've been for over a year now), and lost 18kgs (39 Lbs) body weight. Yet there's not a single soul on this planet who can claimed I moved a finger to hurt them in any way, unless they tried to hurt me.
Can the government do anything about cigarettes? Sure, as I said, they already did. True, they didn't do quite enough in some people's view (including mine), because unfortunately Big Tobacco (same as Big Pharma and others) is a very powerful lobby, and acted to limit those laws against them, but the difference in the last few decades is undeniable.
FatFork: yeah, you're right (sorry, I don't know how to quote multiple posts). It just irks me to no end to see people trying to seek sympathy for that stuff. Victimizers playing victims. Ties up at the top with people claiming "ignorance" of the law. True, I should stop doing it. It only upsets me, and doesn't change a thing.