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Producing and selling a tanning bed does harm other people.
So doew producing and selling a car.
So do you think selling cars should be illegal, or is "adults should be able to do just about anything they want, even if it harms themselves, as long as it doesn’t harm others" maybe just a tad too simplistic of a rule to decide what should or should not be allowed?
Obviously it's too simplistic. I didn't write a fucking law about it that needs to be perfect. This is a casual internet forum, and everyone knows that a statement like that isn't literal. Anything you do has some public risk, that we find acceptable.
A tanning bed doesn't though, besides potentially starting a fire, or things like that which we don't need to factor in here. Similarly, most drugs only harms yourself. Yes, there's some amount that ends up in the water supply, and distribution can cause harm (as is true for literally everything). The outside dangers are insignificant though and we do not need to discuss them further. If you want a more specific wording, "adults should be able to do what they want as long as the harm to others is below a socially acceptable threshold."
For both tanning beds and drugs there is a significant health risk. In a society that treats health as a purely personal matter, those probably should not factor in to the question of acceptable or non-acceptable harm to others. In a society that treats health as a shared common responsibility, it does factor in because it takes up resources that could otherwise be used elsewhere.
This might also partially explain why healthcare in the USA is the way it is: It is in conflict with the American interpretation of what freedom means.
P.S.: Not assuming you personally are American, but the ideas you expressed are in line with what you would expect from a stereotypical American about this topic.
OK, so they should ban junk food, cars, anything that produces pollution, candles, knives, and anything else that hurts people.
I am an American, but your view is more in line with the American mode of thinking. America has a facade of "freedom", but it's always been very limited. We have a basis of puritanical ideology, that is pushed on everyone. No drugs, no gay marriage, etc. We banned alcohol once. How many nations have done that? We have one of the higher drinking ages in most places (usually 21yo, rather than the typical 18).
The American government is far more involved in making decisions for people than anyone else. They decide what's good or bad, and then push it on you.
I can't understand why you'd want others to make that decision for you. Yes, in a perfect world maybe it'd be OK, but we aren't in a perfect world. They won't always agree with you. If you push this decision to the government, they get to decide if trans healthcare is allowed, or if trans people can exist at all, or homosexuality (which has been illegal many places because it's "harmful to society"), or whatever else they don't like at any moment. Thinking it'll be only what you agree with is nieve and shortsighted.