Should we ban Banning

AMERICANS LIKE  TO BAN THINGS!!!

What is with this phenomena. If you are afraid of something, then you should ban it.
lets  make  a list of things I know America has banned over the years.

1. Alcohol:  Prohibition as the legal act of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation and sale ofalcohol and alcoholic beverages. In 1920, the USA banned Alcohol. Prohibiton lasted until 1933. It didn't  work, created more crime  than it  solved and society suffered at large for it. We still practice it in various places. Still  I am for controls on Alcohol consumption and  production. 
2. "Illegal Drugs" Marijuana, weed, mary jane,  etc. perhaps the  most laughable illegal drug of all time. The worst thing that can  be said about  weed is that it is really high in tar and stinks to high heaven. I  have personal experience with this drug in  as much as I have seen it used at many levels  and while never having consumed of  it directly, have still gotten  high off of it second or third hand. Under those effects, I  almost made some awful decisions- fortunately one of the weed smokers stopped me (maybe unfortunately). I won't say the drug is harmless or non-addictive. Pot-heads are like other addicts in as much  as they become increasingly despondent and dependent on their next fix. I  have yet to see or hear of a violent pot-head. you  see ads on TV that say Pot-heads are forgetful and  that maybe true but I have yet to see a shootout involving the  use of marijuana. Growth and sales yes (different degree entirely). Should Marijuana be legal. The short answer is yes. The long one is it should  be controlled like any other drug...like tabacco, alcohol.
3. "illegal drugs" the hard stuff, heroine, opium,, cocaine. The War  of Drugs has been going  on since Nixon declared it officially in 1971. Only  recently, Obama removed the use of the term "war on  drugs" and now  they (the  feds) refer to it as  something else. In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a critical report on the War on Drugs, declaring "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and years after President Nixon launched the US government’s war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed."^[13] The report was criticized by organizations that oppose a general legalization of drugs. However, the ban and controls  were actually  set up with Prohibition and In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was created.  Yep, it  probably  will go down  ass the dirtiest, craziest world war ever not fought anywhere. More money and more people have been killed in it. There could have  been a better way to deal with the rising issue since it led to substance creation like:
4. "illegal drugs" Homemade substitutes mostly fueled by the pharmaceutical companies. Meth, Extasy, designer drugs, crack, smack, crystal meth, date rape  drug, etc. Need I say  more. Make some things harder to get and human inventiveness comes  out of the wood work. Prohibition led to homemade gin,  junkyard whiskey, prison brews, because if you can ferment it, you can drink alcohol baby!
5. Books. My personal favorite. This country has made an art form out of book banning and book burning. In fact, it is still the most common form of banning alive and well. For all the good it has done and all the harm it has done as well. The  irony like most things that are banned, is that the banners never read the book in question and do it on word of mouth from an anonymous source most often. I have seen book banning personally. In high school, in Tennessee (think  Bible Belt  Buckle) my high school banned AD&D on the basis of a Southern Baptist Deacon who caught his son  with a copy of the Fiend Folio (probably the best drawn/illustrated  monster manual ever) and called the school and all D&D books were banned from then on. You couldn't even have discussions or a club. if you were caught with a D&D book it was detention and the book was confiscated. The fall out, every fantasy book was scrutinized and viewed like drug paraphernalia! Ironically, it just made  me want to play  it more. Catcher in the Rye and  The Tropic of Capricorn are stilled  considered banned books. I have read both and it's laughable to consider what could have made them so controversial especially when you consider the tripe and despicable stuff that those same schools make students read now as part of the curriculum!  take a look  at The Chocolate War or Are You There God,it's Me  Margaret sometime.
6. Assault Rifles. hotly contested eventually reversed. Gun control does  not  mean banning it. But you cannot convince anyone of that. I  have  already pretty much covered this one in earlier posts.
7. Cop-Killers. Armor  piercing bullets. When dum dums and splatter slugs are not enough. I  put this  up in the range of  exploding  bullets, and nuclear tipped shells. No human being needs  armor piercing bullets unless your bears/deers and neighbors are prone to  wearing Kevlar and bulletproof vests. The only people who really  need this bullet need it to kill US troops and Police Officers.
8. Smoking. Finally. Well  smoking  in public.  let the smokers smoke but ban the smoke that I have had to inhale over  the years, the same smoke that has  settled on my clothes that makes  me nauseous to the point of  being ill. When I have to go to a smoker's house I wear an  outer shirt and sit as far away from  them  as possible without being  rude, close to a door or ventilator  (not  that it helps much). After  I leave, I strip off the outer clothes  or bring spares. Sometimes I have to shower to get it off of me.  How many smokers do  I know? Several, but I am related to 3 of  them and they  are pretty heavy smokers to boot. I wish they would quit for  their health for their children, for mine. 
9. Abortion. Good Golly what a mess, and what an ordeal since legalized abortions do  actually limit the number of back room abortions  that go on when  the ban is  in place.

          I could go on but I  pretty much have made the point  I wanted  to make.

          In general, Banning is bad and seldom works effectively.

          instead we should try to find a middle ground. usually understanding the item/action in question will lead to better alternatives. We should ban banning.

and that is life according to Mike