# What's currently legal that will probably be made illegal in the future? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928 "2008-07-28T16:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/41 "2008-07-29T23:21:24Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] I wouldn’t come to your house even for free beer. [/QUOTE] Hmmm, Gatopescado. Catfish. Yeah, you’re probably safe staying away from a house with 4 cats. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/42 "2008-07-29T23:25:06Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] I wouldn’t come to your house even for free beer. [/QUOTE] Why? Would you rather we _didn’t_ scoop the cat boxes? 😛 ETA: And we actually have 5 cats. Two of the cat boxes are rather large. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/43 "2008-07-29T23:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] I’m sorry. I just reread my post and it actually comes across really aggressive, which isn’t what I wanted at all, and I apologise for that. [/QUOTE] No problem; I get a feeling you’re somewhat passionate about this topic. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/44 "2008-07-30T03:57:18Z")
Alcohol consumption by pregnant women. Mark my words. Driving a motorcycle without a helmet (still legal in many states, despite the societal cost of treating all those avoidable head injuries). Tobacco use anywhere but at home. Tobacco use around kids _anywhere_. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/45 "2008-07-30T04:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] Salvia Divinorum. I’m amazed it’s still legal, and have occasionally been tempted to try it while it still it (not tempted enough to actually _do_ it, but if hallucinogens were legal and perfectly safe, I would probably give one a try to see what all the fuss is about). [/QUOTE] Salvia is interesting but it ain’t fun. Though, they schedule new hallucinogens pretty quickly after they are synthesized, so somehow I doubt they’ll get around to Salvia. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/46 "2008-07-30T04:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Driving a motorcycle without a helmet (still legal in many states, despite the societal cost of treating all those avoidable head injuries). [/QUOTE] This one is not going anywhere. I seriously doubt it can hold a candle to the societal cost of treating obesity-related illnesses, but you won’t see overeating banned anytime soon. Or mandatory exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/47 "2008-07-30T05:51:25Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Cigarettes and/or smoking anywhere except your privately-owned home. . [/QUOTE] And that you pay for with your own independent business, since major employers will forbid their employees to smoke at any time. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/48 "2008-07-30T16:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] This one is not going anywhere. I seriously doubt it can hold a candle to the societal cost of treating obesity-related illnesses, but you won’t see overeating banned anytime soon. Or mandatory exercise. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget all those lovely healthy young-ish bodies with no functioning brain that motorcyclists without helmets produce. 😃 Semi-joking aside, Canada has had motorcycle helmet laws for quite a while now. It surprised the heck out of me to see all those motorcyclists driving without helmets when I made a road-trip through the US. The stats on fatalities without helmet use are shocking. I guess it is up to the individual to value their own life, but it still seems like a no-brainer (heh) to me that if you want to go fast on a motorcycle, you protect yourself and your delicate little melon as much as you can. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/49 "2008-07-30T17:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] And that you pay for with your own independent business, since major employers will forbid their employees to smoke at any time. [/QUOTE] I hadn’t thought of that angle - how about employers not hiring smokers in the first place? You can smoke all you want, but no one will hire you, or you sign a document swearing you aren’t a smoker, and if caught smoking through blood tests for nicotine, are immediately fired. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/50 "2008-07-30T17:10:03Z")
I get the feeling that dextromethorphan-containing OTC meds be made more difficult to get in the US, similar to what happened with pseudoephedrine. I suppose the “currently legal/made illegal” part of my supposition would be unrestricted sales. DMX sales are already restricted in some localities due to abuse, and now that pharmacies across the US have mechanisms in place to handle the sale of behind-the-counter OTC products thanks to pseudoephedrine, it would be trivial for the government to order Robitussin and its brethren behind the counter nationwide. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/51 "2008-07-30T18:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Don’t forget all those lovely healthy young-ish bodies with no functioning brain that motorcyclists without helmets produce. 😃 Semi-joking aside, Canada has had motorcycle helmet laws for quite a while now. It surprised the heck out of me to see all those motorcyclists driving without helmets when I made a road-trip through the US. The stats on fatalities without helmet use are shocking. I guess it is up to the individual to value their own life, but it still seems like a no-brainer (heh) to me that if you want to go fast on a motorcycle, you protect yourself and your delicate little melon as much as you can. [/QUOTE] I feel the same way. I won’t ride around the block without a helmet, literally. My dad offered to let me take his Harley for a spin and I said no because he rode to my house without a helmet and I don’t own one. Do I think it should be illegal to ride without a helmet, though? No. Because where do you draw the line? If we want to protect ourselves from ourselves, or from high health insurance rates, we should start with overeating and then probably alcohol. We all know how well outlawing those would go over. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/52 "2008-07-31T02:00:17Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Don’t forget all those lovely healthy young-ish bodies with no functioning brain that motorcyclists without helmets produce. 😃 Semi-joking aside, Canada has had motorcycle helmet laws for quite a while now. It surprised the heck out of me to see all those motorcyclists driving without helmets when I made a road-trip through the US. The stats on fatalities without helmet use are shocking. I guess it is up to the individual to value their own life, but it still seems like a no-brainer (heh) to me that if you want to go fast on a motorcycle, you protect yourself and your delicate little melon as much as you can. [/QUOTE] Ahh, c’mon… you enact mandatory helmet laws, and then organ donations are gonna go in the cellar. Helmets transform nice young donor bodies into long & expensive rehab cases. I had a TA in mech eng. who used to call bikes _donor-cycles._ He needed non-arthrytic cadaver knees for his research. He was always busy and cheerful in the spring, when riders were rusty from winter and there was still lots of gravel on the roads. We should probably make them optional up here too. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/53 "2008-07-31T04:26:39Z")
Interesting question - how much should the government protect us from ourselves? ---
**Author:** ![CoBa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@CoBa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoBa)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/54 "2008-07-31T04:51:20Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Interesting question - how much should the government protect us from ourselves? [/QUOTE] As in protecting a single person from himself? None. If the government wants to put out information regarding risks, go ahead, but that’s where the line stops. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/55 "2008-07-31T05:57:19Z")
[Guantanamo Bay detention camp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp) And I hope the entire Bush administration is sent to prison for allowing it. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928/56 "2008-07-31T20:16:28Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] And I will be sorry to see them go. We save all our plastic bags from the grocery store and use them every night when we scoop our four cat boxes. [/QUOTE] Yup, they come from the grocery store and get pressed immediately into a delightful new life as poo-bags. We scoop litter boxes into them and stuff a bunch into pockets for picking up after the dog on walks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-currently-legal-that-will-probably-be-made-illegal-in-the-future/457928.md?page=2)