Thread: Anti - anti-smoking rant

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.

Originally Posted by Jeltz

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.

This is actually false. A study showed that people under the influence of nicotine showed a greater level of concentration than people who didn't smoke.
I'm against cigarettes and smoking in enclosed spaces, but facts are facts.

I would also add that people should have the freedom to smoke as long as it doesn't cause second-hand effects (as is the case when smoking is done in enclosed areas). I am a pipe smoker. It is my hobby. I'm not asking to be able to smoke anywhere I want, simply that I am not breaking the law by occasionally enjoying my hobby. Restricting smoking? Yes, to an extent. Outlawing it entirely? No.