Thread: Anti - anti-smoking rant

When ever I go to the doctor they ask if I smoke? I alway say "no, but I would like to start. Do they keep sart smoking packets with the just quitting pack?"

Originally Posted by TheGeek

And as an aside I am an ex smoker, however when I did smoke if I happened to be in the company of non smokers I would remove myself from the group if I felt the need.

Geek

I feel like this epitomizes the necessity for compromise and the respect of individuals who smoke for those who don't. I used to smoke a pack and a half a day - nearly always having a cigarette lit when out at the bars or at the beach or at a party. If I felt that it was not appreciated, I too would step aside to conduct my admittedly foul business. If children were present, I would remove myself to enjoy my smoke, and still to do enjoy my pipe. If someone was walking by on the street, I would blow the other way as an attempt at courtesy.

It is a matter of being a respectful human being and respecting the wishes of those around you. I just wanted to open a topic for discussion, and am glad to see the responses - agree or disagree - that have come about. We are individuals free to choose what we do and where we go.

Geek - I also see your idea of a level playing field and understand it completely as a matter of commerce. But wouldn't that be an indicator of those privately owned business not wanting to exclude a percentage of their patrons? Truly a complex debate, and my intention is no to solve it on this forum. Instead, I just encourage us to not blindly accept what our government(s) tell us to do, and to make these choices for ourselves.

Hmmmm.... I replied once and it didn't appear. Perhaps I clicked the wrong button. In any event, I don't mean to come across as a heartless individual who does not understand the impact of smoking on an individual's health. I have lost two grandfathers and an uncle to health problems directly attributed to smoking. My argument is more for the choice to expose ourselves to these negative factors. It is a long and complex argument that I'm not attempting to solve with one fail swoop of my keyboard on this forum. Instead, I encourage and thank those who have taken the time to read and/or respond, and to agree or disagree, to appreciate the rights of an individual to engage in unhealthy activities -whether it is fast food, smoking, sugar, salt, saturated fat, etc. I have done, and continue to do my best to be respectful of those around me. It is an interesting question - does individual right to engage in activities that displease others outweigh the right of the group who is displeased by these activities?

My purpose was incite conversation and thought - and not to offend. If I have do so, I sincerely apologize.

Generally, when an individual's right conflicts with the rights of a group, the group's rights prevail.

Yes, but where does it stop. Second hand smoke outdoors in a park doesn't hurt people, it's just a nuisance in certain situations. But so is plopping down next to a group of happily chatting people and playing unwanted music on a radio.

I think if they tell people they can't smoke outside, they should also tell people not to drive diesel vehicles, or tell companies to stop polluting our air, because frankly I think that does a lot more damage to society. But is that going to happen? Of course not.

To me this issue is not *really* about second hand smoke and health, it is about persecuting smokers.

Its all about power and subjugation.

If it were about compromise why didnt the non smokers do business in the non smoking establishments? They may have been few, but they were available. I dont think it was the smokers who failed to compromise.

Here in VA bars can still have a smoking area it just has to have its own ventilation system and there are rules regarding entry ways and the like.
Not every establishment can affors this but it is an option.
One of my favorite places with this is in Fredericksburg. There is an entry way with two doors inside of it. One for smoking. One for not smoking. The not smoking side has a decent sized bar and 5-10 tables. The smoking section has a 30ish foot bar, a lot of tables, a dance floor, and billiards tables.
Both sides, however, serve the same amazing chili.

At 62 and up until 10 years ago a non filter Camel smoker for 36 years, pipes for 20 and still at it ..... I have come to respect the right of non-smokers to enjoy clean air. As one of them once exclaimed to me ..."People are breathing."

OTOH, I grew up in a household where everyone smoked. Parents, grandparents and sibling. I began at age 14. I don't believe in second hand smoke being "all of that" because if it was I'd be dead long ago.

Originally Posted by bharner

The not smoking side has a decent sized bar and 5-10 tables. The smoking section has a 30ish foot bar, a lot of tables, a dance floor, and billiards tables.
.

Proof that smokers are better people, they have more fun and are worth the capital expenditure. LOL
BTW I quit not too long ago with the aid of e-cigs, I highly recommend these for those who are having a hard time staying on the wagon.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

In the UK, people who smoke are becoming few and far between, hardly anyone smokes nowadays.
Why should a minority dictate terms to the majority of folk who want to enjoy an evening in the pub and don't want to come home with clothes stinking like an ashtray?
Both my parents were smokers, both died prematurely from lung cancer after a long debilitating illness. I sat with my mother as she died, fighting to breathe.
Smoke if you want, just do it in the middle of a field and make sure you don't encourage youngsters to copy you.

I'm sorry that you lost your parents in such a harsh manner, but your last statement is just so prejudiced towards anyone who may smoke. More people are morbidly obese than people with lung cancer, but you would never tell someone to make sure they don't encourage youngsters to eat candy bars because they themselves enjoy candy bars. They should also apologize for eating them in public; that just encourages other people to do it.

This is the product of the anti-smoking lobby painting anyone with the habit or hobby of smoking as being the scum of the earth. We smoke, and therefore we're making a concerted effort to make sure the world has cancer. I know that every time I enjoy my pipe, I'm secretly hoping that ten people get cancer from it.

I was smoking in a picnic area and a family sat down several yards away. I moved so that the parents wouldn't be worried about their kids being around the smoke from my pipe. I'm clearly a cancer spreading villain though, hoping the youngsters would be sucking back five packs a day by seeing me for a few seconds.