Hari Srinivasan
Prof David Presti / GSI Carson McNeil
Psych C19 Drugs and the Brain
First Debate at Cal for Prof David Presti's Drugs and the Brain class
My task - Opening Statement
Debate Topic: A plain-packaging requirement for tobacco products should NOT be implemented in the USA.
Our group supports the negative motion, that plain packaging for tobacco products should not be implemented.
It is ironic that in an age where more states are legalizing marijuana, which to a large extent is smoked, there is yet another move to suppress tobacco smoking through plain packaging. Tobacco has been around from ancient times. As we learnt in our last lecture, it was the primary shamanic plant of the Americas. It was used to bind friendships and seal covenants by Native Americans. The Hookah of the east has been around since the era of Akbar the Great in India. Why should Tobacco alone be demonized, targeted and penalized? After all it is but one of the many poison plants that we are surrounded by.
We argue that plain packaging is not evidence based, infringes on our intellectual property rights, curtails freedom of speech and increases illicit trade.