in people's health in order to ban hazia -- if it causes currency to drain out of the Empire they will try to limit it or outlaw it! Finally, in fact the history of temperance and of tobacco shows that efforts to ban or limit consumption have existed throughout their history. Sometimes inspired by religion, sometimes by fears as to health, sometimes by groups interested in improving the condition of the people. I already mentioned that James the First of England tried to ban tobacco in the early 17thg century. Some cultures and religions have tried to do the same to coffee and/or tea.
And, of course, there are political struggles, ideological struggles, and financial interests involved in all these bans, so they can be a fun part of any ongoing campaign. Just consider that at the beginning of this century, Coca-cola was called "coke" because it contained coke! And old ladies swallowed or injected the stuff. The hodge-podge of alternate de facto and de jure legalization and prohibition, together with drug-and-alcohol-running, gang violence, police corruption, and so on, of 20th century America is not new. It exists in all "advanced" bureaucratic societies all the way back to Ancient Egypt.
Jim Chapin
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