> we absolutely should penalize corporations who take advantage of addicts for a profit

Often we end up doing things to make sure they have more profit. I wouldn't be surprised if this e-cigarettes ban is coming from cigarette manufacturers lobbying for it.

>> should penalize corporations who take advantage of addicts for a profit

You just sighed a death warrant to HN, and 95% of all corporations that make a profit.

Agreed; Facebook, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Lays, Twitter, CNN, Fox, Disney, and Purdue are all examples of companies that are taking advantage of people's reward path in a basically addictive way. Maybe 95% in terms of aggregate profit.

This is definitely true for a lot of the major consumer facing software companies.

"Sean Parker, the 38-year-old founding president of Facebook, recently admitted that the social network was founded not to unite us, but to distract us. “The thought process was: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’” he said at an event in Philadelphia in November. To achieve this goal, Facebook’s architects exploited a “vulnerability in human psychology”, explained Parker, who resigned from the company in 2005. Whenever someone likes or comments on a post or photograph, he said, “we… give you a little dopamine hit”. Facebook is an empire of empires, then, built upon a molecule."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/04/has-dopam...

Why not Google? There are a lot of kids (including my son) addicted to YouTube. Why not Amazon? There are a lot people addicted to buying stuff they don't need.

The list is definitely far from comprehensive. Thanks for adding. I think we could add many more especially if you include companies that boost their profits by taking advantage of people by presenting them with a dilemma of immediacy, such as Home Depot and their overpriced key rings, or movie theaters that disallow outside food and make all their money on popcorn and soda.

Add reddit to it too, IMO.

so be it. No non corporal entity is entitled to exploit any corporal entity. If they exist at all they should serve all.

Profit is a share of the increased wealth created, not stealing what is because you are invulnerable, soulless and can.