Thread: Anti - anti-smoking rant

Originally Posted by smreno77

I have but one last question for my pious friends: If there was such a demand by the people and by the restaurant industry for non-smoking establishments, why were they not in existence before the bans were put into place?

Because shop owners always feared losing customers.
Say there are 2 restaurants, one which allowed smoking and one which doesn't.
Many groups include at least one smoker, so the smoking establishment would have an edge over the non smoking one.

Mind you, for a bar I can see your point.

Originally Posted by WongKonPow

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.

There is a difference though. You can eat all you want in public and people are not negatively impacted by it.
If you smoke in enclosed spaces, you are harming people around you.
It would not be so bad if it was only an occasional cigar or pipe, but people lighting up cig after cig are just filling the room with smoke.

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.

That's just silly. Smoking outdoors is not an issue, compared to living in a city, near a highway or any of the other places where there is pollution.

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.

Ultimately, society is nothign more than a majority dictating how things are done. That is why even a constitution gets amended from time to time, and why it gets interpreted. I'm sure the slave owners complained about the government trampling over their constitutional rights. It will always be like that. That doesn't mean it is bad though. time will tell.

I do agree with not encouraging children.
Recently there was a tobacco company which filed a request for a new additive which would give the cig smoke an interesting color. They wanted to do this to draw more young people to smoking in an effort to halt the decline in their sales.
So far the chances for approval look slim. But it makes me wonder at what sort of person could steep so low as to actively try to get kids to smoke.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

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.

I see this a lot. I think there is about a 3 to 1 ratio, smokers outnumbering the non-smokers. I would think all the extra smoke in the room would be an added benefit, you could light up less and still enjoy the smoke from others. On my own I would guess that it would be the other way around, but maybe there is a correlation to bars and smoking. After all, I'm running in the evening.

I really miss pipe smoking though, and the smell of a pipe anywhere in the room is intoxicating.

Originally Posted by smreno77

With that said, since the beginning of time, smoking and drinking have gone hand-in-hand. When we go to a bar, we are going to an establishment where we can drink, swear, bitch about politics, ogle members of the opposite sex in a very animalistic manner, and even to take our conquest home for the evening without heed of the uncomfortable morning to follow. We are voluntarily engaging in activities that are dangerous, unhealthy, and on the fringe of social acceptance to begin with.

For those that do not wish to be exposed to such nefarious on-goings, the solution is simple: Do not go to those places. Let your wallet do the talking. If there is really such disdain for these locals of ill repute, and they suddenly become vacant caverns populated by only a scant few degenerates, then they will no longer be able to keep their doors open.

What about those who want all such "nefarious" activities...but not to smell like an ashtray?

There would be no place left for them to go simply because like Bruno said...most groups contain at least ONE smoker that would complain because of his lack of ability to feed his addiction at a place that doesn't allow it.

Originally Posted by WongKonPow

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.

Well the food/fatness analogy has never worked. With smoking you can just stop doing it and you will survive, if you stop eating you won't. There does need to be an attitude shift with the over consumption of sugary and fatty foods much as there has been over the last 30 years with smoking, but the main thing is that a thin person in the presence of an obese person who is eating a candy bar does not generally find it unpleasant as where as a non smoker in the presence of someone who is smoking does.

Lets face it the smokers desire is that when they want to feed their addiction, they want to do so wherever and whenever they want. Make no mistake that, that is what is being done when I smoked I thought I did it for all sorts if reasons, to relax, to cope with stress, to wake up and to concentrate etc. In reality nicotine is a stimulant so how can it help you do anything other than be stimulated? Drugs can not perform differently the situation you find yourself in! The truth is that the relaxation or ability to think comes form removing the body's nagging want for the drug, cravings, people see smoking as a pleasure but its more like hurting yourself so that its nice when you stop.

Virginia happens to be the home to the largest manufacturers of cigarettes, the taxes paid by that company to the state of Virginia are staggering. To me the whole issue boils down to the government telling a business owner how he can run his establishment. There are plenty of regulations that a restaurant or bar owner has to deal with, they certainly don't need this one. If non-smokers don't like that an establishment allows smoking, then go to one that is smoke free. All other things being equal, and non-smokers being in the majority, shouldn't the smoke free establishment be making more money than the smoking establishment? This used to be the land of the free, unfortunately that changed long ago. The loan from the french to finance the Revolutionary War was backed by tobacco. If not for tobacco we would still be an English colony.

Originally Posted by bharner

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.

Don't worry, the nanny state advocates will be going after the obese next. The only satisfaction I have is knowing that they, the nanny staters, will die of something. If it ain't one thing it will be something else.

I smoked for 14 years. Thank God I quit. All my heros as a kid smoked. all the cool uncles, cousins etc. would always have a pack of smokes and would let me "puff" when I would be out of eye sight of my Mom. I grew to be a smoker (killed my grandfather and broke my Mom's heart to see me smoke). My 2 brothers smoke as well. I enjoyed it till I took that last smoke. Loved every minute of it. Although the bloody coughs and hacking till I threw up was a bit uncool. I still could not stand it while I was eating though. Would always opt to eat in the non smoking section. The wife could never stand it either, and I never lived anywhere where I smoked indoors. Always out side. It is horrible for you, expensive, and annoying to others. They knew all about the dangers of smoking in the 30s, and yet we continue on....

We in Minnesota rejoice in having our legislators realize that if it's a good idea, it deserves to become the law. Smoking is not good for ones health, so we are slowly outlawing it every where. But we are also very concerned about hurting the feelings of the genereal public so nothing so far is being foisted upon the obese. They continue to waddle down the sidewalks the smokers can no longer use for their unhealthy behavior.