Unfortunately for the tobacco industry we live in an unfair society where the population always wants to point the finger at someone other than themselves.
Tobacco is a legal substance and is enjoyed by many people.
Our particular issue is commercial speech and its deserved protection under the First Amendment. Tobacco advertising is a clear though controversial example of the principles I wish to address. Virtually all attacks on liberty, including the liberty to express various viewpoints, ideas, theories, beliefs, appeals, requests, and so forth rest upon a basic moral error. This is the error of confusing basic rights with what is morally or ethically right (Karin, 1990).
The recent attempt to ban commercial speech about tobacco products is one of the purer examples of this error. If we assume, for the sake of argument only, that it would be right for people to stop smoking, we have, as yet, said absolutely nothing about the rights of the case. It may turn out that forcing people to quit smoking, restricting their access to tobacco products or information about such products, violates their rights. The paradox here is that in the pursuit of what is right, one may do what is morally wrong.
The reason for the paradox is that the particular way in which the "good" (or right thing) in question is pursued may conflict with another good that takes priority. All social moral principles are not created equal. Some are more fundamental than others. What is characteristic of rights is that, almost by definition, they are foundational or basic. Other social values must give way to them in cases of conflict. We can see this in everyday speech (Karin, 1990). It makes perfect sense to say, It may not be right for someone to do (or believe) this, but....
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