Any other smokers left on this forum?

[ajkula66]

Just sheer curiosity on my part...feel free to chime in and blast this unfortunate minority that I belong to if you really must...

I'm aware of another smoking member, since I've met him in person, and consider him a good friend, but that's all that all that I know so far...

To make myself perfectly clear: I'm referring to people smoking tobacco in any form, and NOT any other stuff...

[killer]

Do whatever you want, matey, it is your life and nobody else's. Anyone that tells you off is interfering in an area that is outside their domain.

Hitler didn't drink and was very anti-smoking. Churchill drank like a fish and smoked big cigars. If they came back to life, which one would you prefer to invite round for the evening?

[Robbyrobot]

Hi George,

I don't smoke, although I used to, and despite a lung condition vehemently object to the sitgmatization of smokers in present societies. My lung condition has nothing to do with my previous smoking - but a lot to do with stupidly renovating a Canadian Cotage without a dusk mask in the 1970s.

I simply hate the present "holier-than-thou" attitude of some people who [censored] ("Expletives": this is getting a bit ridiculous, don't you think? Has nobody here ever said or seen d a m n?? We're not babies!) smokers as "addicts" (which they aren't). This is at least as prevalent in Germany as in the States, and is typical for the dictatorial attitudes of many who place more value on conformity than freedom.

[moronoxyd]

I simply hate the present "holier-than-thou" attitude of some people who *****Expletives removed by Moderator***** ("Expletives": this is getting a bit ridiculous, don't you think? Has nobody here ever said or seen d a m n?? We're not babies!) smokers as "addicts" (which they aren't).

Don't make a mistake here: Nicotine is a drug, and at least some smokers are addicted to it.
It might be a socially accepted drug, just like alcohol, but that doesn't change it's nature.


Generally, I don't care if people smoke or not.
They're responsible for themselves.

But: As soon as a smoker limits my freedom not to smoke (by smoking in my presence) things get a bit more complicated.
I have friends who smoke, and when I visit them I do not expect them not to smoke in their own home. Neither do I insist of going to non-smoking bars and restaurants.

And I do take offence if people smoke in closed or semi-closed public places.

[dr_st]

It is a complex issue.

I am not a smoker and have never smoked a single cigarette in my entire life, despite growing in a household of two smokers (dad - heavy addict, mom - light, but still addicted). I don't see any circumstance under which I will become a smoker - it is simply not interesting to me.

Generally, my feelings are close to moronoxyd's.

Whatever people do to themselves is their own business. I never try to convince people not to smoke.

But it cannot be denied that many smokers are inconsiderate as to the effect their smoking has on others. A regular smoker is used to the stench, so he/she doesn't understand how someone can be uncomfortable with it, sometimes to the point of being sick (some people have a strong allergic reaction).

I don't like it that I am forced to breath someone's poison.

I don't like that whenever I go to a club to dance, I come back and all my clothes stink of smoke, and I have to take a shower and wash my hair twice to get the smell out of it, even if I showered 5 minutes before leaving for the club.

Here in Israel the anti-smoke laws are still not as draconian as in the US, but I hope they are heading this way. Because the Israeli public in general is just rude and inconsiderate enough to ignore these laws when they are lax. They smoke in public places in front of 10 "no smoking" signs, and if you tell them to stop, they yell at you, and if you call an authority figure, they start running away from them and hiding the cigarette, and pretending they didn't do anything wrong. They truly believe they didn't do anything wrong.

Not trying to be "holier than thou". Smoking is an addiction, one of many. We all have our addictions, physiological and psychological. I am pretty sure I am addicted to coke (the liquid kind), and I am definitely addicted to computers and internet. The negative effects of these may in some ways be worse than of smoking.

The problem with smoking is that it is a habit that, whether you believe it or not, hurts people around you. Unless you are really being very careful, which most smokers aren't.

[dsvochak]

Another smoker here. I got through law school on coffee and cigarettes.

While there may be health risks to smoking, I minimize the issue when possible by smoking the cigarettes the Surgeon General warns cause low fetal birth weight and other complications in pregnancy. As a male, pregnancy complications aren’t an issue for me.

A friend has a sign on his desk which reads “Thank you for not breathing while I smoke.”

[andyP]

I'm going to out myself as well, not for the first time in these boards.

As smoking was effectively banned in German Pubs and Restaurants it got interesting to watch peoples reactions. There are pubs which are excepted, because of their small size, and then you have those declared as "smoker clubs" where you have to sign a book to show you are a member - oh what a wheeze. (cough! cough!) Some smokers boycott places where smoking is not allowed, but it's amazing to see how many non-smokers frequent smoker clubs Somehow the atmosphere, (ugh!), seems to be better.

The majority of people talking about the smoking ban as it was introduced were non-smokers, not the smokers. Strange, but true. I had expected the opposite.

I have two locals that I frequent regularily, one is smoking - pub - and the other non-smoking - restaurant - where if I need a smoke I will go outside; the inconvenience is worth it 'cos the foods good. That said, as a smoker myself, I hate it when someone smokes when I'm eating and will not smoke when someone near me is eating.

I also have a friend who always laughs when he buys a packet with the warning; "Smoking causes Impotence". - He just says; "testicular cancer got there first" and laughs [By this comment I don't mean to make light of a serious illness which is cureable if caught early enough, just stating how my friend sees it].

Yes it's unhealthy, maybe one day I will have the personal streangth to stop, but...........

[BillMorrow]

liberty = swing your arm all you wish until it contacts my nose..

as someone who has never smoked i respectfully request that those of you who do please don't do it where i am effected by the second hand smoke..

similarly, i don't try to tell a woman what she may or may not do with her body..

but also please do not expect me to subsidize your medican care if something bad should occur..

which segways into, dare i mention it, HEALTH CARE in america..

for which i shall start a new thread..

[ajkula66]

moronoxyd wrote:

I have friends who smoke, and when I visit them I do not expect them not to smoke in their own home. Neither do I insist of going to non-smoking bars and restaurants.

BillMorrow wrote:

as someone who has never smoked i respectfully request that those of you who do please don't do it where i am effected by the second hand smoke..

Fair points from the non-smoking side. I do wish that more people shared these views.

What I have a problem with are people trying to order me what I can and can't do on many different levels-smoking being just one of them-and for these individuals I like using the term that Jonah Goldberg (I believe) coined - liberal fascists.

I don't smoke in my house, because of my kids. Not in my workroom because I'm aware that people generally dislike the smell of smoke on computers. Not in my van which my family uses for traveling around.

However, I do smoke in my car that no one else uses, and in my garage. I do find laws that ban smoking in outside cafes utterly ridiculous, especially in places like New York City where you have all types of far deadlier pollution coming from the traffic around you...

But the idea that someone-anyone-can actually ban me from smoking in my own quarters (remember, I choose not to smoke in my house, along with my wife, a fellow smoker) makes me reach for my gun...oh hold on that's also on the list of things that are about to be banned, right...along with non-diet soda that I don't drink anyway but would defend one's right to drink it until I'm buried with a pack of Winstons and an A31p...

[cparker]

Non smokers subsidizing smoker's health care? I think there were some studies showing that this isn't the case at all. The huge taxes on cigarettes more than makes up for any discrepancies between the two groups. Actually, smokers have much shorter lifespans than non-smokers and it may turn out that in the end it's cheaper for gov't/insurance companies if you smoke than if you don't.

And do I smoke? Yes, in my fantasies. I remember smoking fondly, but I quit many years ago.

[BillMorrow]

Non smokers subsidizing smoker's health care? I think there were some studies showing that this isn't the case at all. The huge taxes on cigarettes more than makes up for any discrepancies between the two groups. than non-smokers and it may turn out that in the end it's cheaper for gov't/insurance companies if you smoke than if you don't.

And do I smoke? Yes, in my fantasies. I remember smoking fondly, but I quit many years ago.

both fair points..

but let me add..
cigarette taxes are an easy sell but do not go to paying for the health care of smokers..
usually, i believe..

and

i would take it as a sign to quit (if possible) when something like this:

Actually, smokers have much shorter lifespans

is said..

those who would attempt to pass laws against smoking in your own home or any other legal conduct in your home won't stop there..

when these sorts of things come up i am reminded of this:

"First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

(google really makes me appear more brilliant than a really am)

[t140568]

I don't regularly smoke, but I do enjoy the OCCASIONAL cigar... maybe once a year or so. In fact, it's been two weeks and two days less than a year since my last one. Had one with some friends the night before I got married last year.

Here in Illinois we have a ban on smoking in public places, ie restaurants, bars, etc. To smoke, you must remain something like 10 or 15 feet from the door of a public building. While I fully get why smoking in restaurants is banned (After all, how much does a 4' wall really block smoke from one section to another?), I can't understand for the life of me why smoking in bars is banned. Smoking and bars go hand-in-hand. It should be left up to the bar owner.

As for when people smoke around me, my rules are simple:
-Do what you can within reason to keep it away from me. If the wind shifts and I catch a whiff.. no big deal, but blowing smoke carelessly is uncalled for.
-Under no circumstance do you smoke in my car. That's grounds for me pushing you out whether we're moving or not.
-Dispose of your cigar/cigarette butts properly. Flicking them in my yard is grounds for me to relocate my Steel-toed size 13 (USA) boot in your... ahem.

[rkawakami]

A little bit of personal history: Have never smoked a cigarette (nudge, nudge, wink, wink ) in my life and that's just fine with me. Was (forcibly) exposed to second-hand cigarette and cigar smoke during my formative years since both my parents smoked. Not sure why my father stopped when he did, but my mother kept up the habit (light one up right at the dinner table as soon as she was done eating; never mind that others were still chowing down...). When I was about 18 I started hiding my mother's packs so she couldn't find them; now that I think of it, there might still be a couple in their house over 30 years later . Fast-forward several years and after marriage (to an ex-smoker; the worst kind of anti-smoker you can have) and a daughter, my mother was still puffing away. My wife had said that she would not allow smoking around our daughter, even to the point of making my mother go outside her own house if she needed a drag. My mother understood and accepted the reasoning. About 20 years ago my mother was on a trip up in Canada and came down with a real bad cold. It was at that time she quit cold-turkey. As far as I know both my parents have not had any lung or health issues related to smoking, except perhaps my father's double-bypass a few years back. I'm sure that they have extended their lifespan for several more years since quitting (they are 91 and 86) but of course I can't prove it.

I'm all for having totally non-smoking restaurants, workplaces and other enclosed public areas. At first restaurants had smoking and non-smoking sections, most of them separated by some invisible line drawn across the room. I guess people thought that the smoke was supposed to obey that boundary. That obviously didn't work and now all restaurants in California are smoke-free. However, I do agree that there may be some excessive laws being enacted (smoking bans in public parks for example). Add to that, cities are free to draw up their own ordinances banning smoking in various places, which the next town over allows. It makes for quite a headache when trying to figure out what's legal and what's not. There should be a uniform statewide policy but I know that's just a dream.

There is always the "personal freedom" argument being tossed about. As Bill said, you should be free to do as you please as long as it does not negatively affect others in your immediate vicinity. I agree with that. Smokers should be allowed to smoke in their own houses (some mother-in-laws excepted), if it does not affect their neighbors. They can smoke in their own cars; just don't throw the butts out the window . This may not be a fair comparison but I think that the analogy is apt: Do you think it's right for somebody to come up to you and taint your water / coffee / soda with harmful chemicals and then expect you to drink it? Exposing others to second-hand smoke is the same thing to me. No matter if the contaminants enter your body via the air you breathe or the food you eat, it's still forcing others to endure something they don't want and can't get away from.

I still like Steve Martin's famous joke about smoking . For you youngsters out there, Google it .

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sm ... ted_States
ref: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/fact ... cco/cancer

[dsvochak]

[I still like Steve Martin's famous joke about smoking . For you youngsters out there, Google it

I prefer Denis Leary: http://thelaughtrack.com/2009/01/22/cla ... s-smoking/