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Quick Poll Results
Smoking should be prohibited in all public places.
| Total Voters: 1273 |
| Yes |
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30% |
| No |
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30% |
| Undecided |
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30% |
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| Bam Bam | 02/02/08 | 5:27am | Pat all you have to do is re-install your operating system (you'll lose everything in the process) but thier website won't recognize your puter. I'd change your name though, that they may remember. But then again, we're happy to have you in here !! =) |
| Amanda | 02/01/08 | 4:52pm | I agree..need a new one |
| Paula | 02/01/08 | 10:57am | New poll please! |
| Amandwa | 01/28/08 | 10:21am | Michelle you're a trip. That was funny...true but very funny :) |
| Pat | 01/28/08 | 5:47am | Like I said, remember my last comment and don't forget reading it when everything comes around. It will be in most of our lifetimes. I am not being paranoid about anything when it comes to our government. Don't keep dreaming that our nation is a perfect nation-the home of the brave and the land of the free-that was only true when these words were first written and still it wasn't really free then. I love most things about our nation, but that doesn't mean I love our government. We have a very sneaky, devious and corrupt government. If anyone on this poll is filthy rich, then yes the government will always be there for you, but the middle class and the poor are in big trouble. As far as the smoking of cigs or not, like I said in another comment, the smokers and the non-smokers will NEVER compromise. When will we have another poll on something else? I think this one has run out of steam. If you never see my name in any of these polls in the future it will be because I get so controversial I get blocked out or something. I try to just go so far on this one so it doesn't happen to me again. That is what they did to me on favorite.com and I can never get in there to comment again on the computer I'm on now. |
| Gabrielle | 01/28/08 | 5:46am | I personally believe that when it comes to indoor public areas, smoking should not occur, because the smell is bothersome to non-smokers. Now, when it comes to private establishments, the business owner should decide on what they may, smoking or non. The government should not put their heavy foot down any one person's throat about it. It's not their establishment, and they're crossing the line in the first place by making it a decree.
I am not sided with the smoking ban, especially if it includes prohibiting smoking at outdoor areas,
such as parks. Also, if you live in a heavily populated city, like Philadelphia or New York, the air's hardly fresh with all the pollutants lingering in the air. So if it's not cigarette smoke that's making someone's asthma act up, then it could be pollen, or whatever other pollutant is in the air.
Now, I know for sure that cigarettes aren't going anywhere, as long as there's a tax on it, and people smoke them, it's never going to disappear. |
| Michelle | 01/28/08 | 12:17am | It comes down to there will always be two sides with different ideas. Great. Smoking should not be prohibited in public places because it is a PUBLIC place!!! Rather, there should be smoking restaurants, and non smoking restaurants, smoking sections on the beach, non smoking sections on the beach. ETC.
It is quite idealistic to suggest that all of a sudden trying to control a large group of humans addicted to nicotene will succeed. If you truly do not want to be exposed to the smoke (which does kinda reek), then accept that we ALL enjoy the ability to choose, so it is a fact of life that there will be cigarettes on the planet (serial killers and flesh eating bacteria too). It is responsible to say, those people are doing something we do not choose to do, so we each are responsible to do the best we can to exist as we are (and do) (Cigs are bad, they should have never been made, but society has allowed it, so...). That way you are not in denial about cigs, and have acted responsibly to ensure your lungs are exposed as little as possible. Don't you think you sound a bit gonzo trying to tell me I can't at least have my own designated spot in public that you don't have to go to EVER? Strip clubs are not banned, they just have their own designated spots. Don't wanna peek, don't go to the designated spot. SIMPLE!!!
While sympathetic to those who have sensitivities to smoke, I really just stop listening when 'the ban' is mentioned. Come on. Get real and try to protect your lungs if it is so bad. Cigarette companies are not going to roll over tomorrow and go away, so better learn to compromise and get the best 'lung friendly' solution in a reasonable timeframe, if it's so bad. Otherwise all the whining is only pulling more of that **** into your airway!
I don't know who I side with more, the rude and embarrasing smokers who are not concious of their 'uncool' habit bothering others, or the mighty non smokers who believe they can eliminate smoking!
Oh yeah, maybe they should, uh, like really have laws they enforce to stop underage people from smoking, cuz, GENERALLY, it is younger people who don't seem to get that it really bothers others.
?????!!!! |
| Amanda | 01/27/08 | 7:33pm | Cocco believe it or not an allergic person can die from exposure to those things. Their allergy can be so severe that their throats and airways close up on them and they suffocate. As I said..in doors in family styled restraunts I can see. However, I think if you're outside, walk around a person smoking. It is so funny how people want to get on their high horses about the habit. If you don't like it don't go where it's at. it is stupid to go somewhere you know anything, regardless of what it is, is going on and then have the nerve to complain. That is sheer foolishness. You have the right to do as you will and if you go somewhere that people smoke, remember you could have chosen to not go. Don't whine, be an adult and deal with it. |
| Cocco | 01/27/08 | 5:50pm | We are not talking about dogs, cats, perfumes, etc. We are talking about second hand smoke-i've never heard of pet allergies, etc. causing cacer....however second hand smoke can and does. Which is why it is not just about smoker's rights......
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| Amanda | 01/27/08 | 4:17pm | Coccoa if we banned everything that set peoples allergies or athsma off or made them uncomfortable we would not have cats, dogs, flowers, perfume, deodorant, disinfectants....and the list goes on. Smoke is only one of many things people don't like to smell. I can smell dog on people but that doesn't mean they need to get rid of their dog. There comes a point when you just have to deal with others even when it causes discomfort to you. Any person can add to this list of things that to them smell bad. As far as indoors in public I agree. Outside however is fair game. |
| Kaykay | 01/27/08 | 2:13pm | All I can say is since the ban in the UK I have started smoking again as making it naughty makes it tempting also there is far more fun and bonding had outside of the pubs now....... How can we go about have smoking and no smoking pubs so that we have a choice? |
| Cocco | 01/27/08 | 11:38am | I agree that smoking should be banned in public places-however, enclosed public places-not parks, beaches, etc. As an asthmatic, cigarette smoke is one of the worst offeders for me. Even when people at work come in from a smoke, they reek of it and it affects me. You can imagine how bad it would be if I actually had to sit in an office with them while they smoked.
However, as an American, it is an individua's right to choose to fill their lungs with poison. So long as it is not in a way to affect others like myself in public-their rights should not supersede my rights to air quality-my total disgust of smoking should not inhibit someone else from doing so!
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| Gladys | 01/26/08 | 1:39pm | Lets face the fact's who makes money off of smoking, and products to stop smoking! |
| Amanda | 01/26/08 | 10:28am | Marlene I see it just fine. Problem is it is far easier to take this relative mole hill and turn it into Mohammed's Mountain! I mean really it is a simple common sense thing. Is big brother watching you? He sure is. Does our government care about our health? Only so far as they can turn a buck off of it. Prohibition never works...just look at what happened in the prohibition days with alcohol. That'd be yet another thing for gangs to fight over, who is gonna sell cigarettes on what turf. If you don't think that would be the case think about it some more. Nicotine is far more addictive than heroine. You don't think some hood won't find a way to make money..HA keep right on thinking that way. |
| Marlene | 01/26/08 | 9:06am | Big brother is watching you, make no mistake! What is next? Create a law that makes it illegal to smoke? Starting the cigarette prohibition? We all know what that law brought us. Chicago is still recovering. Monitoring how much people will eat? Or overeat, that is unhealthy also, where will it stop? Get to the real issues, homles hungry no insurance children in this country, better education, you know what really counts, or is that picture to ugly to see? |
| Amanda | 01/25/08 | 5:16pm | I really don't think anyone who has posted their experiences with the government or their observations is paranoid. I call it like I see it. Their main agenda is them..not to make life better for us. There are many things they could do if that were the case. I am not saying they are out to get us, but I am saying this is and has not been a government by the people and for the people and all of that for many years. If they cared about their citizens first they would not have allowed tobacco companies to dump the crap in the cigarettes that they do. It would have been out lawed right then and there. Nope, they cared about the fact they could find a way to make money off the taxes by imposing a sin tax. Instead of making the companies clean up their act and sell tobacco that is chemical free, they let them keep on dumping the crap in there. Are they responsible for me smoking? No. Are they responsible for that industry that they regulate and what happens with it? Yes. Can they force them to clean up, of course. Do they, no. |
| Bam Bam | 01/25/08 | 1:04pm | There a name for people who are paranoid of their own government. Importing certain ideas to create a healtcare system that cares for everyone does not a Socialist society make. Everything in this country is planned well in advance... like wars; wars create a need to make us think we need to make a change; so we vote & put someone or something new into power. Then we settle in at night all comfy and cozy thinking we're in control. When yet that's what was supposed to happen all along. It's not gonna happen guys...to some degree we already live in this society you fear so much. Politicians and the government figured out how to maniupulate the media and the public long ago. We'll never be a socialist society because democracy will rule the world. Like I said Importing certain ideas to create a healtcare system that cares for everyone does not a Socialist society make. All this banter from one little ciggy. |
| Amanda | 01/25/08 | 7:35am | Seeing as how I have looked at it in this country this is how it works. Insurance companies, all of them, are huge cash cows for corporations. When you pay for your insurance, be it home owner, auto, life what have you they money actually goes in the long run to the parent company to invest in other companies to make even more money.When I sold insurance one of the things I was taught about the whole set up is this. Insurance is an actual gamble and what you are paying for is a bet on the part of the company and you that certain things won't happen. Its a nice steady flow of monthly income for these companies to have so they can invest it elsewhere. Now the drug companies here have major money invested in research and in patents. Notice how most drugs now have side effects that nine times out of ten are worse then what you are suffering from? An antihistamine can make you have severe head aches, nose bleeds,high blood pressure..etc. Well what to do, especially if you have really bad allergies? You have to get another drug to counter act the effects of this one. So, there's another doctors visit, another prescription and the wheel keeps turning. Do you know why on most plans you can only get certain drugs and not others? Expense my dears, the insurance does not want to pay too much out (which brings us to the wonderful stop loss clause most insurance policies have) which is where after a certain amount of money whether or not you have all premiums paid and have never had one bad health habit they can terminate your policy. Some of those rates look high, but then again turn around and look at the amount of money health care can cost. Relatively speaking it would not take too long to reach the amount in question should you have a terminal illness, and we will just talk about those who don't have one bad health habit at all and never did. Think on it. It can cost around 1,500 to go to the ER and get a few stitches. Get your bills out and look at them if you have insurance and what they billed the insurance company is outrageous. In the mean time what is going on with all the premiums and co-pays? Well it goes right back into the machine my dears. No they won't have socialized medicine here any time soon. That would put too big of a dent in the nice little money making scheme that is going on right now. |
| Michelle | 01/24/08 | 10:57pm | Wow. Looking at the debate so far has made my head want to spin. A question came to mind after seeing so many 'heavy' words - choices, cancer, doctors, insurance, chemicals, outcast, decency, taxes, on and on it goes. Does anyone think (aside from this debate) that it sounds as though we have no faith in the ability of our 'society' to satisfy the wellbeing of its general whole? It is amazing that so much can be said on this, even being a touchy issue. I think people (myself being one) are frightened of the 'wheel'- chemicals, taxes, the possibility of insufficient care for loved ones, greed, big business, fads, clean air as a thing of the past...
Of course smoking is related to all this, but it goes deeper- to our fear that the authorities, the creators of the fabric of our societies, could leave us in the dust to fend for ourselves. I can't imagine this whole debate and all the impressive language REALLY comes down to cigarettes in public? Not that it doesn't , but there's definitely more there. |
| Jeff | 01/24/08 | 7:48pm | Good points Amanda. No one can depend on a massive bureaucracy to "care" as you put it. Unlike private businesses, the government can run on large deficits, take bribes and implement useless programs under the guise of "the common good". The government can run Ponzi schemes like social security and screw the taxpayer time and again with no accountability. While Politicians get away with this outrageous and brazen behavior, business owners and even Corporate officers are sewed or thrown in prison for committing similar acts. Just look at Enron. While the former officers do jail time, Politicians who squander our hard earned taxes and take bribes in the form of earmarks are rewarded. This is why the founders of our country (the USA) put heavy restrictions on the federal government. They never intended for government to be involved in things like education, health care, retirement, etc. Socialism takes power away from the individual and puts it in the hands of a massive uncaring, unaccountable bureaucracy. That means less freedom, less innovation, less wealth, and the threat of tyranny down the road. The government has no jurisdiction under the constitution to ban smoking in public places any more than it can stop you from breaking wind in public places. A government run single payer system is also a gross violation of our freedoms. Freedom means choice, and a single payer medical system would take away your ability to choose. |
| Jean | 01/24/08 | 7:46pm | When I was a smoker I did'nt think smoking should be banned anywhere, but now that I quit I think it should be banned everywhere, by the way the reason I quit is because I now have copd. I wish I never smoked a cigarette in my life but its too late for regrets, everyday is hard for me, but I'm dealing with it..well what else right?!
So while its up to the person who smokes to quit or keep smoking all I want to say is good luck and I hope you dont get copd or any other smoking related desease. |
| Bam Bam | 01/24/08 | 7:43pm | Importing a few ideas to provide healthcare to the masses is not reducing our entire society to socialism. The drug companies will always get their money and the government off of them. In Canada the drug companies are making money hand over fist because everyone can get a prescription..and the governmetn pays for it through high sin taxes. You should learn more about it yourself. Providing healthcare to everyone would not diminish their profit. Everything in this world revolves around money and you can't get away from that. We can also learn something from other countries that have socialized medicine and try to become better providers of it. Find the mistakes and correct them or at least make them better. |
| Amanda | 01/24/08 | 6:28pm | Jeff I agree. Our government is concerned with making deals for themselves. Oil deals, land deals, deals with large pharmaceutical companies to make cash. Where does the money go? Well look at the lives some of these people and their families have lived for a couple of hundred years. The Bushes have been Ivy league since 1860 or even further back. They didn't get that way over night and the people we vote into office are not working class people like ourselves, nor do they even know any. So, they give a damn about us why? |
| Jeff | 01/24/08 | 4:30pm | All forms of socialized health care are unsustainable. Just look at Social Security or medicare in the US... both are Ponzi schemes that will eventually go bankrupt. You're a fool if you think you can depend on Social Security for retirement. This is what happens when you give the Government too much power. When the money starts to run out, the first thing that happens is a shortage of doctors. That means long lines for medical care. The next thing is rationing. That means certain procedures will no longer be available. Socialism breeds waste. People are not as concerned about keeping in shape and eating healthy because they do not have to pay for health care. Just look at the UK... their system is on the verge of bankruptcy so they are denying certain procedures to people. When will people learn that more Government is not the solution? Government is the problem. They have a strangle hold on every facet of our current system and this is why prices are going up. We need LESS government intervention which will give the market forces a chance to work as they always do. Socialism means less innovation, less treatment, and long lines for serious illnesses. Wake up people... stop giving away your freedoms! |
| Amanda | 01/24/08 | 3:47pm | I strongly urge you to really study the link between the drug companies, the FDA and the health care system. Its all about money, why else do you think docs abandon ship? Why you can make money here, and those that have money do not wish to give up that control. We won't have any sort of socialized medicine any time soon, never fear, it is one of the many things that could aid us we won't get. Why? We have insurance and big business. They hold hands. And none of them are about to stop either. Have you ever thought of why the discourage you from buying your meds from overseas pharmacies? They loose money. It isn't going through the machine for them. My fiance's dr would love to have given a different script then he did, but see what the issue is is the FDA has not approved the drug even though it is commonly used in Europe with no ill effects. it is made for a specific reason. Yet no dice on a script here. Instead my fiance has to take a drug that is life threatening because it aggravates another condition. That is how our health care works. Same reason the Fda does not approve herbs. No money for them in that field.Why? You can't paten a herb. it helps, millions use them and don't have to see their doctor and often times they are much better off for it. Yet our lovely government will not invest much at all in research. Think about it. |
| Bam Bam | 01/24/08 | 3:08pm | Pat socialized healthcare isn't bad and the Dr's aren't bad either. Having been an American in Canada and experiencing first hand their medical system the Dr's are very good. They are just too few because they are all running to the US to make tons more money here. The only bad thing I saw with socialized healthcare is waiting for treatment for things like cancer. However, emergency treatements and surgery's there is no waiting. But, if you get cancer get in line and wait for your treatment. There arent as many Dr's there as there are here. Put that together with too many patients you get a long wait and sometimes you don't get treated in time. |
| Bam Bam | 01/24/08 | 3:01pm | It's not as moot a point as you might think Amanda. Canada and England have similiar healthcare systems and there is strong talk about importing some of those systems here so everyone can have healthcare. What effects our brothers and sisters accross the pond and the border will affect us eventually. |
| Amanda | 01/24/08 | 1:47pm | We won't get socialized medicine. wanna know why? because then the insurance companies, the drug companies and the doctors would take a drastic cut in pay. Socialized medicine means everyone gets health care. We won't talk about how many other diseases that are not life style related that doctors will have to treat ...nope, they'd loose too much money. I mean you don't get Leukemia, breast cancer , ovarian cancer, Lou Garrigs disease, Multiple Sclerosis Muscular Distrophy, etc,etc,etc from life style. Our government is in business. They could care less what is good for us. If they did they would have put a ban on the chemicals in smokes a long time ago and insist only unaltered tobacco be sold if people just had to smoke. See, they make money and if it makes money it can stay. Just like this sham of a war on drugs..you really think the government isn't getting money out of it? It is far more profitable to have it illegal than legalize. You think they could not once and for keep it out of this country if they really wanted to? Sure they could, the found Saddam in a hole in the middle of the damn dessert after all because they wanted him. Bottom line our government is in business to make profit for the elite few and socializing medicine will NOT do that. |
| Pat | 01/24/08 | 10:20am | In the not to far off future that is how it will be in the U.S. and social healthcare will not be good, because the really rich will have the good doctors and EVERYONE else will have the quack doctors. Some states have already taken the emergency rooms out of their hospitals. If we don't start thinking and living healthier in every aspect of our lives....well you talk about losing rights now....you haven't seen anything yet. I'm not trying to preach gloom, I am stating a fact. When it happens, remember reading this. |
| Amanda | 01/24/08 | 9:43am | Health care in Europe and here are two different things entirely. Even people who do not drink, smoke, etc can't afford insurance. Right now as it stands what your life style habits are and having health insurance has next to nothing to do with one another at all. Moot point really. |
| Paula | 01/24/08 | 7:39am | Live and let live - Or is it "Live And Let Die"? Just like everything else, there is truth in both thoughts. I believe it was in the past week that I read something that came out on the bbb.com news site about this. The Brits are talking about canceling health care for those who have chronic disorders brought on by habits such as smoking or conditions that exsist because one is obesely over weight etc. The aritcle makes a LOT of sense. When one really thinks about that stance on the subject matter at hand here, it really brings individual rights to light. Yes, I do have the right to smoke. Yes, I do have the right to eat until I weigh 600 pounds, but why should my rights, why should my poor decisions make health care un attainable for others that are truly in need. Think. Make responsible decisions. Be responsible for your actions. |
| Liorah | 01/24/08 | 7:04am | I AGREE WITH THE PEOPLE WHO SAY LIVE AND LET LIVE.If you choose to smoke and you want to age your face by at least ten years by the time you are fifty that's your business. Though i can't help but think it is just another tax or ticket grab by the powers that be.I mean look at Halifax they want to legislate a ban on smoking in aprivate vehicle.I believe that that is a little to much government intervention. |
| Pat | 01/24/08 | 6:00am | Yeah, I know they have that in the cigs, plus at the least, 10 to 15 more poisons(or more). See! Way back when they started making cigarettes, all that stuff wasn't in them. In the late 60's or early 70's(I forgot the surgeon general's name)he had the warning put on the side of the pack. I don't know when all those poisons were put in them, but probably in the 50's(maybe even earlier than that). Mass production of everything that we put in our bodies is nasty. I don't mean to come down hard on anybody that smokes. I know how hard it was for me to let go, but when I was smoking, I couldn't walk up 10 steps without wheezing. About 4-6 months later I did it without wheezing. The main thing I can't tolerate AT ALL is pregnant mothers smoking or mothers smoking with babies in their arms or parents smoking in an enclosed space and kids having to breathe that stuff. Even smokers should agree to this. |
| Amanda | 01/23/08 | 6:34pm | While they may not put it in there they
A) know about it
B) allow it
C) means they don't care and even condone it. Believe me if you read it then they knew long before you..think about it. |
| Bam Bam | 01/23/08 | 6:10pm | Okay who boosted the poll? Ed I said MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone I ran into this year! I said it with purpose too. This is the US and I'll be darned if someone who immigrated here doesn't like it. Why should we change who we are and the heritages we all share..we've said Merry Christmas in the country longer than most immigrants have lived here. It's apart of the very fabric our country, the freedom to worship as we choose and free speech. Whoever came up with that politcally correct bull**** needs to be deported! How could wishing someone something so cheery be so bad? Aside from that did anyone know that one of the chemicals your smoking is formaldehyde? You know the stuff they put in dead people? Hmmm..maybe they were going somewhere with that. Not to mention ammonia. The government doesn't put that in there though..who said that? At least I haven't seen the paperwork on that one. |
| Amanda | 01/23/08 | 3:19pm | Well you can always fire the government. |
| Ed | 01/23/08 | 12:13pm | Thanks Pat for making all of us realize the other major issues we should be worrying about. I totally agree with you! I know during the Christmas season I said Merry Christmas to everyone I came in contact with and was very surprised on how many people thanked me for saying it. I will never stop because some idiot does not think it is politically correct. If they don't like they can move to another country. And as far as Rapists and Pedophiles they should be hung up by their balls and left for the victims relatives to give them the proper justice they deserve. We certainly cannot depend on our justice system. It is just fustrating to see what is going on in the US. Keeping our boarders open sure does not help matters, but then that is another story. |
| Pat | 01/23/08 | 11:07am | People! People! People! All this arguing over a cancer stick! If smokers want their right to smoke, well then, let them have their right to smoke. But in the not-far-off future, if you smoke, you won't be able to have any kind of insurance(which for our nation the insurance companies suck anyway). Many, many people don't have insurance. What are smokers going to do when any of you will have NO insurance, just because of smoking? Everyone that smokes like to bring up other things that are bad for people's health just to get the discussion off the banning of cigs in public places. The poll is being taken on-"Smoking should be prohibited in all public places." No one is EVER going to come to a compromise on this subject. While we fight over something like this-let's ignore "Merry Christmas" being taken away, prayer and morals taken out of the schools, pedophiles being continuously let out of prison, rapists and murderers walking the streets, and so on and so on and so on..........If you want to bring up anything to argue about concerning your rights or my rights, I am afraid cigarettes are the least of our worries. So yes, I have to concede that as a nation, we are losing our rights more and more each year(rather we smoke or do not smoke). So smoke away in good or bad health, it won't matter in our future generations anyway. Right now and smoking or not is all that matters. |
| Amanda | 01/23/08 | 8:55am | Tim to answer some of the questions about chemicals they are put in for two reason. One is the extra nicotine that hooks the person and quickly. It has been proven that nicotine is far harder to kick than heroine. There's some food for thought. Another, and here's the biggie, is the excellerants in them. What those do is make the cigarette burn faster. If you take normal tobacco that you have to role and role a cigarette then light it you will find that it goes out in the ashtray or in your hand if you aren't puffing on it. Not so with a cigarette. The additional chemicals make them burn and burn faster, so you run out faster and have to buy more. Nice little scam huh? Now the where to smoke probably won't be banned for a long time. Fact of the matter is all the tax on cigarettes make our wonderful government a lot of money, so why are you going to shoot your cash cow? If you ban them all together well you loose an untold amount of money. Most of it tax money. |
| Tim | 01/23/08 | 12:30am | So you are suggesting that they do not ban public smoking, so much as the 'where's' of smoking, which does support both the smokers, and non-smokers rights. There could be other issues involved with this, but for the time being, it seems like a good idea, and on I am sure many here would agree with (of course I cant speak for anybody else).
And Ed, I am not trying to fight for the banning of cigarettes completely. I said that I would suggest a ban on cigarettes, because they are no good to anybody. There are few, if any positives to cigarettes. SHOULD they ban cigarettes? No, because it does even more to trample on human rights than prohibiting public smoking; it bans the right completely. I just think people should quit altogether, but that isn't going to happen just because some people don't like the idea of cigarettes. Perhaps the government should explain the 'whys' of why they put so much garbage into cigarettes, and if there isn't sufficient enough reason, ban the chemicals from being used in cigarettes, and go back to smoking just normal tobacco? I could be missing a great deal here, but from what I can see, there is no good excuse for the amount and type of chemicals in cigarettes to be as they are. Anyone got a link to a website that might explain this? |
| Amanda | 01/22/08 | 4:43pm | Like I said.. I agree it shouldn't be in restraunts or in places like that where the main business is selling food, especially if it is a 'family' type place. There's nothing wrong with me going outside to smoke. There are people who are considerate or try to be about their smoking. Let's face it I know what I am doing to myself. I have no desire to do it to anyone else. Hopefully I will find a way to quit and no just stopping is a good way for about ten people to buy me ciggs after three days, if I make it that long. Personally I am planning on trying chantix. But until them I do smoke. I want to see anyones rights, both smoker and non be looked at and protected. |
| Bam Bam | 01/22/08 | 3:08pm | Outside areas to a reasonable degree should be fair game. I agree. I don't think it should be banned all together either...it's just going to have to ibe allowed in appropriate places from now on. People are living and choosing to live cleaner and healthier lives. Oh and Ed..I'd like to address your comment...as for my lungs my inability to breath or tolerate smoke was caused by smoking and 2nd hand smoke. My mother smoked three packs a day and I became a smoker at 16. I don't beleive some of your statement should include the whole. |
| Amanda | 01/22/08 | 6:07am | As a smoker Ed I personally don't have an issue with it not being in restraunts. I forgot to add that the bar has to sell a certain percentage of food in order to qualify. I mean I smoke, I don't want to go in somewhere and have my eyes watering due to the level of smoke in the place and I have had that happen. So for all purposes along those lines I have to agree with not smoking in a restraunt. Outside areas to a reasonable degree should be fair game. |
| Ed | 01/22/08 | 5:15am | I can't believe I am reading to ban cigarettes all together. If we do that, then I suggest we also ban booze, kids (rug rats) in restaurants, any public place and especially air planes. We live in America! We all have rights, or we are supposed to have them. It feels like we are only allowed rights when it works for certain groups of people. Bullsh!t!!!!! Hey I am sorry some people have breathing issues, but it is not caused by smokers. Stop polluting the air with gas guzzling vehicles, big corporations letting out toxic smokes from their factories. That is the crap that is causing the problems. I still believe restauant and bar owners have the right to have smoking in their establishments. If you know there is smoking there go to another restaurant or bar, plain and simple. This smoking issue has really turned people against people and that is not how it should be. What a great and powerful country we would be if we could all get along. I know stop dreaming!! |
| Amanda | 01/22/08 | 4:58am | Well if you look at how things are in Florida it's pretty fairly done. No restraunts can have smoking sections, even outside. Thats fair..most smokers I know don't want to eat while others are smoking. When it comes to outside though it's fair game usually. However most places have designated areas, away from public entrances so as not to block them with people smoking. Most of the corporations have these areas too, not just places to eat. And some do not allow smoking on the grounds, usually hospitals, you have to go across the street. When it comes to the open parks, well like I said they're fair game just like the beach. But you're outside and the parks are large so non smokers do not have to be bothered with the smokers. The largest concerns with the parks is the beggars, not smoking. |
| Shirley | 01/22/08 | 3:12am | Criticism causes division among people. Most folks I know who smoke are mindful of their smoking methods. Kind of drift off and away from others in public places, tuck into spots where they aren't interfering. However this campaign against smoking seems to be causing an almost hate based attitude towards smokers. Many would like to quit and most likely will do a better job of making the attempt if others stop beating them up emotionally and shaming them, guilting them, and generally putting them down. Wow. The world seems to be running on fear of this and fear of that ... when do we ever stop and love one another anymore? |
| Tim | 01/22/08 | 12:21am | You make a fair point. So then Amanda, if you see many solutions, which one would offer the best compromise to both the smokers, and the non-smokers? One side insists on their rights, and the other side insists on their own. The best two 'compromises' we have involve enclosing smokers, or non-smokers either trying their best to avoid any smoker on sight (if it bothers the person that badly), or put up with it. Neither one really sounds good, or much of a compromise, looking at it this way. And there is the proposed way of banning smoking in public places (which does impinge on rights, with cause or no, if such a thing is to be considered a 'right').
I would suggest they ban cigarettes altogether; they are no good to anybody, least of all the smokers, although it is their right to smoke them as they please, which does lead back to the issue of human rights. Although the positives heavily outweigh the negatives for both the smokers, and the non smokers, it is ultimately the persons choice to stop smoking or not,
What would you suggest? |
| White Hare | 01/21/08 | 8:16pm | Smoking is gross...what's in tabacco these days is 85% chemicals!! Those who smoke around children are giving those children at least 50% chance of getting lung cancer weather they smoke in their life or not. I smoked for 10 years, & haven't smoked since 1987-now I'm allergic to it by skin rashes & how it feels in my lungs-low level asthma.
Please be considerate to others when lighting up! |
| Amanda | 01/21/08 | 6:37pm | Must be a wet dream of yours Bam Bam. |
| Bam Bam | 01/21/08 | 6:34pm | One final dittie...the numbers on this poll don't mean squat. I can open a new window each time I want to vote and throw the whole thing off by voting 100 times. It's Soooo not accurate. |
| Bam Bam | 01/21/08 | 6:32pm | Truth be told all I see out of the smokers is a bunch of selfish single minded only out for myself bunch of crap. But, then that's al this world revolves around is ME ME ME...MY MY MY. Go smoke yourselves silly...but you'll be doing it behind closed doors...and behind buildings. Someday smokers will be the outcasts and that may be sooner than you think. Can't wait to catch up with all of those who claim there gonna quit and hear your thoughts then.
lol. |
| Amanda | 01/21/08 | 5:17pm | As far as I can see most of the 'for' people actually have addressed it quite well Tim, issue is that we're not willing to just sit home or worry about walking down the street and inadvertently offending someone. I see all sorts off solutions here. What I see out of most of the non smokers is a bunch of crap though..truth be told. |
| Tim | 01/21/08 | 3:29pm | Bottom line here: We aren't dealing with age, creed, color, race, or anything of the sort. We aren't dealing with laws that take away your right to smoke. We aren't even dealing with a subject of absolutes. We are dealing with a persons health, and your supposed 'rights' to potentially take that away with YOUR ill health. smokers aren't alone on this world, it is being shared with many other people, and it simply comes down to respect and consideration for another's well-being. Yet many people try to skirt around this particular aspect of the argument. |
| Amanda | 01/21/08 | 7:49am | The way it worked in Florida is that the place in question had to have a certain amount of food sales over the amount of alcohol sold. Most bars that mainly sold alcohol just stopped selling any food period. |
| MJ | 01/21/08 | 7:15am | My problem comes in when restaurant/bar owners are forced to make their businesses smoke-free. If they are willing to take the risk that they may lose business by allowing people to smoke then they should be able to do so. People can choose to work in the environment or not and people can choose to patronize the bar/restaurant or not. |
| Amanda | 01/21/08 | 6:22am | T0xXx1k I completely agree. I think it's really funny how some are saying its the nasty smoke that bothers them. It can't be the dog danger or mildew or pollen, it can't be the car exhaust or pollution from any other source. It HAS to be the cigarette's smoke that causes the problems..and nothing else. Besides the fact its a perfectly ridiculous idea as far as outside goes, it simply isn't true. I think I know what you are talking about as far as the pollution in your home. I think I saw a show about that a long time ago. |
| T0xXx1k | 01/21/08 | 2:31am | I seriously just read the sentance "sometimes freedoms go to far". That in itself is a complete contradiction. "Freedom" its self would mean there isn't a line. Ok so some people don't want to gag while they're eating dinner, I can get that, but for all you people saying you can't even stand walking past someone who's smoking outside, you need to do some reseach. Your complaining about about something because its something to complain about. Its scientifically proven that smoker or not there is more "pollution" inside your own house than there is outside. Banning people from doing what they want on PUBLIC property is absurd. The word public means its for EVERYONE not just any one group. Its like saying a particular race offends a large group of people so they shouldn't be aloud in public. Smoker or not you will eventually die eiher way and telling smokers they have to do so in a broom closet isn't going to prevent that. You can't say you don't want people to smoke at a park because you have asthma, that would mean people with dogs should go there because some one might be allergic. You will have attacks smoke or not. Its not cool that you have the disease but not everyone is dealt the same hand. Bottom line I don't care who/what you are, saying people can't do specific things in public is ridiculous. The public is supposed to open to EVERYONE reguardless of age race creed color etc. |
| Bam Bam | 01/20/08 | 8:17pm | Kris, I completely agree! By the way...the government isn't making what you think off it. Even if it is banned in certain public areas, that won't stop the money here and it won't prevent people from smoking, a public ban certainly hasn't stopped smokers in Canada and they pay $90 a carton. Now, THAT Government makes the bucks off other peoples habit..which (sorry guys) I hope that taxation is imported here so folks can all get healthcare. They heavily tax beer up in CA but our beer isn't even close the alcohol content they have so hopefully they'll leave our near beer alone. |
| Amanda | 01/20/08 | 4:42pm | Kris, most places do have an area designated away from their customers/clients. If the employees don't abide it sounds like a management issue. I smoke and I smoke where I am told to. If I were you, I'd complain to whatever place your at about it. |
| Kris | 01/20/08 | 4:04pm | I am 40 and never smoked a day in my life. I have 16 year old twins that were diagnosed with Asthma when they were 6 months old. I don't care if you smoke...just do it in your home or your car. I (nor my children) should have to smell your smoke and lose our breath from coughing just from walking inside a business that allows their employees to smoke around the entrance. I am not saying smoking should be banned all together. You have your rights to smoke and die from cancer if that's what you want to do, I just shouldn't have to be affected by it. If you want to smoke at work, smoke outside a back door somewhere that not everyone has to come thru. There should just be designated areas away from all entrances. oh...and being on an elevator with someone coming back inside from a smoke break.......PUKE! i have had to hold my breath to where I had to get off because I couldn't breathe due to the smell of the cigarettes. again, smoke and kill yourself if you want, but I should have the freedom of going somewhere and not have to breathe in your smoke if i so choose! |
| Carla | 01/20/08 | 12:43pm | I will be honest I have been a smoker for 24 years what ever happened to smoking and non smoking areas??? It is like we dont have any rights anymore and that is just not fair! |
| EL | 01/20/08 | 12:06pm | IT'S LEGAL TO SMOKE POT=I'LL SMOKE NICOTENE WHEREVER I DAMN WELL PLEASE!!!!!!! |
| Amanda | 01/20/08 | 11:40am | I personally value my rights...and I have the right to really not give a sh!t who that pisses off. I believe in compromise to the hilt, but no 100% my way bull crap. Next thing you know we won't have any porn because it 'might' effect someone adversely. Here's another thing. Our government is making wayyy to much tax money off of it to ever entirely ban it. |
| Bam Bam | 01/20/08 | 6:50am | Of course these are not "major" issues facing our society, that's why is being handled by city governemtns not federal. If you don't like the public bans then get your whiney butts to the civic meetings and do something about it. Otherwise, deal with it, becuase while it may not be a "major issue" it is an ever present one that is being delt with on all levels of public and governing bodies. It is pollutive not only to the public, but, to nature. The only thing I'm hearing is "it's my rights" ...that to me (having been on both sides of the fence) is a single minded view of the topic. Perhaps we all should look further ahead of the game. |
| Amanda | 01/20/08 | 5:40am | Michelle I have wondered the same things myself. Are these really 'the major' issues facing us..nah, not by a long shot. |
| Michelle | 01/19/08 | 11:04pm | To add some afterthoughts...
If I was gonna die tomorrow (which I just might since I smoke - ha!) and I had one magic chance left to leave the world a better place, I would choose at least 25000 other things before I would want to want to ban smoking in public places. Even writing that at length annoys me. Sometimes I wonder if we are 'encouraged' to get sidetracked and pit against one another. What about abuse, sick kids, gap between rich and poor, youth who are hopeless, violence???
Sure those are huge problems, but all the more reason for us to use precious energy and time on 'bread and butter' issues. I don't claim to know even where to start, I just feel it's too 'easy' to get all caught up in stuff that in the end will not matter if it keeps going unchanged. So, can we please just get along and remember that it's better for everyone to not dwell on petty things.
If I have to eat hormone meat, listen to crappy radio, ride a way too full bus, curse politicians every time they've got a great idea, and throw my hands up at it all, it would help to feel like there are people who are noticing too, not warring about where to stand with a burning stick in their hands. Sheesh. Thanks.
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| Amanda | 01/19/08 | 5:51pm | I agree to me its more about personal freedoms than anything else. I think compromise is fine. |
| Rhonda | 01/19/08 | 1:47pm | This is America folks, while we can't have gunfights in the streets anymore we also were not built on a government that can tell us not to even enjoy natures finest tobaccos outdoors, get real.
Maybe all of you that are for it are also for what they will come after next involving personal freedoms. Have any of you ever thought ahead of the game? Hell maybe one day we won't be able to wear red in the streets or something equally as stupid.
Get your heads out of ur ****es. |
| Bam Bam | 01/18/08 | 5:50pm | Just because something has been a certain way for a century or so doesn't mean it will always be that way. More and more people are quitting smoking everyday. Smokers are becoming a dying breed. No pun intended. I was actually on the other side of this argument not too long ago and felt very much the same as you guys. Except I didn't tell folks TFB if you don't like my smoke. I felt as though my rights were being infringed upon, especially in restaurants. I couldn't eat on the restaurant side of the place...I had to eat in the bar if I wanted to smoke. No more smoking section AND if you had a kid with you; no sitting in the bar. Real pisser. So, we just went to places that allowed smoking and adjusted ourselves. Then, I became a non-smoker and realized how rude I was even when I was a smoker; how irritating the smoke really is to others. I hope all of you quit smoking someday for your health and for those of you who basically told all of us non-smokers to piss off....well what goes around comes around. |
| Amanda | 01/18/08 | 3:35am | Don't hold back Michelle, tell us how you really feel. LOL.What you mentioned about the government is true. I mean the acted like they didn't know that the tobacco companies were amping up the nicotine all those years and now it's OMG lets stop it in public. True there are jerk off smokers out there but you know there are people who I wonder how they even got a drivers liscence in the first place...
Face it, life is not fair. It never has been and it never will be |
| Michelle | 01/17/08 | 10:35pm | BS!! Almost everything about the whole huge debate. Why?
As a smoker, I recognize how foul and unpleasant it is to many people. I take steps to keep clouds of it away from others. If I 'wasn't there first' then I am so far away it isn't funny. If I was there first, (a bus stop) and you are not an elderly person and it's not raining, chances are I am not going to move. There will be times when I admit some will bother others for a brief moment. That's life! Drunk people crowding the street and puking and peeing and fighting every weekend bothers me! It's bad for my wellbeing to coexist with such goons, but that's life.
I already pay too much money to smoke and run out of breath too fast and risk cancer. So shut up already and let me have peace while I make that choice.
Choices, oh yeah, those things. Where does it end when you open that can? I don't trust the authorities or politicians enough to give them that much. They were too happy to sell them to me all these years. Don't try this now, they should have never sold them to start if they feel the need to ban. Can they have their cake and eat it too?
Lastly, I admit there are lots of smokers who feel they are entitled to blow the smoke anywhere, children aren't even an exception. So maybe it is a few who are giving courteous smokers such a headache. Why can't we just get rid of idiots???
Perhaps a certain IQ to smoke, drink, gamble, eat fast food, anything that could become a public burden??? |
| Bam Bam | 01/17/08 | 6:06pm | Christianity or Paganism has nothing to do with it. Simple common respect for those who don't smoke. This world is changing and we all have to adapt. Ed you had the right idea but why not extend that to all your fellow man. We all want our rights...but...it really just boils down to caring for one another and each others wishes. It doesn't matter where you are in or outdoors, don't blow your smoke at anyone. Even when I did smoke; I always asked if the person next to me minded if I had a smoke. If they said they did mind I moved away to a place that would not bother them because I'm the one doing something not them. I care about people other than myself and that is what it boils down too. |
| Amanda | 01/17/08 | 2:41pm | Ouch!! A bit harsh....well First of all this isn't a site 'full of pagans' as there are Christians here and people who are simply spiritual and everything in between.
As a smoker I can tell you this; I do not smoke in the house, I do not smoke around others who don't but if they come up to me then thats on them, they see what I am doing. I put my cigarettes out or stop and finish before I come close the the entrance of a building. I do try and be considerate, now how about let's return the favor?
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| Ed | 01/17/08 | 2:35pm | Tim come out of La La Land! We all have rights and now it seems that you non-smokers want to take the smokers rights away. No wonder alot of us smoke, when we have to listen to you B!tch and B!tch about what you want and how unhealthy we are. Screw You! We Live in America not Russia and it's our life and we will live it the way we want. That is our RIGHT! I agreed to no smoking in restaurants as long as the restaurant owners say it's ok, you and the government should not have a say in what a businessman or women should do in their own place! Also at work, but outside in any park, beach, zoo etc. we can and should be able to smoke. It's outside, no walls just open air everywhere. So get a life and quit B!tching! |
| Tim | 01/17/08 | 2:29pm | I still stand by the general meaning of what I am trying to say... but reading over it, I think that my words may have been a little strong. I got kind of worked up about it... I apologize for the force of my words, if anybody took them the wrong way... |
| Tim | 01/17/08 | 1:57pm | Cigarette smoke is harmful to everybody, not just those with asthma, or any other health defect that could turn unhealthy and even harmful cigarette smoke into something deadly. Instead of banning it entirely, maybe they should construct public smoking-houses/pits where you can fill your lungs with all of that poisoney-goodness, if you so desire? Last time I checked, harming another's health, even in the slightest of ways (and no one here can deny that cigarette smoke is harmful, even just to breathe in second hand), is bad. A site full of Pagans, most of whom follow the creed "An it harm none, do what ye will", are fighting 'against' a public smoking ban? Oh the hypocrisy... Lets look at it on non-religious grounds... Respect maybe? But wait! all of you non-smokers should just not go where smokers are, that will solve the problem! Uhh... since when is the world controlled by smokers? This would be the same as saying that we should just let junkies, stoner's, alcoholics etc. go where they wish, drink/smoke/shoot up where they wish (which, BTW, non of these are directly harming another's health, except maybe the tokers smoke), and anybody who doesn't like it, can just go somewhere else. The reason why the government puts bans on things, isn't because they are trying to babysit you people, its because you people are obviously too immature to take care of your own life, and that of your neighbors. They put drinking and driving bans out there, not because having a beer and then driving is bad, but because there are so many people out there who are not responsible enough to use alcohol's responsibly, that it turns into a bannable problem. They put drug bans out there, not because using drugs kills people, but because people who use them, often do not use them responsibly, and harm their own health, and that of others. They wish to put bans out there, because you 'grown-ups', can't properly take care of your own wellbeing (for whatever reason I do not know), or that of others. "Tell the non smokers to go somewhere else!" What the hell happened to respect people? What the hell happened to caring for another? Does filling another unwilling persons lungs with poison convey respect? Maybe it isn't the youth in the world who are making it a worse off place, its the adults who have their heads shoved so far up their a$$ that they don't care about anybody else, and have their minds set in stone to such a degree that they are unwilling to change it. The path to world change starts with you, and those not willing to change themselves, or their perspectives on the situation, are doing the world a great deal of harm. It starts with you, and the little things. Think about it a little before you reply. |
| Ed | 01/17/08 | 12:56pm | I want to thank Jeff for his comments and I want to give my best to his Mom. These are people who know that you cannot put blame on one group by winning and crying. They Live and Let Live! Jeff and his Mom are very strong and caring people if I saw them in a park or the zoo I would put my cigarette out of respect for her, because reading Jeff's comments I know they both value my rights as much as they value theirs. Thomas you could take a few pointers from Jeff and his Mom. Quit winning! |
| Amanda | 01/17/08 | 12:21pm | I agree especially with Ed. It isn't the smoking in outdoor places like zoos and beaches that have such a bad effect, the the car exhaust, the factories, not to mention that zoos and parks have loads on perfectly natural things to set off attacks like pollen, molds, dust, animal hair, dander, feathers, feces, urine....well you get the idea. all of that stuff blows around, not just the smoke. Yes I am saying to those with health issues to do what you need to do and live and let live. |
| Karen | 01/17/08 | 12:10pm | There should be smoking and non smoking areas. I am a smoker and feel people should have the same rights as others.I'm tired of people trying to push there beliefs off on others.Yes I know smoking is bad for me,yes I know it causes cancer and other health problems. It's my life.leave us smokers alone.(This Puffs for you,lol) |
| Jeff | 01/17/08 | 11:19am | People with "out of the norm" sensitivities need to adjust their own lifestyles rather than try to make everyone else adjust their lifestyle. My mother has asthma, and whenever she gets a simple cold, flu or chest cold, it's life threatening. Smoke inhalation even in moderate quantitities can cause her significant discomfort which is part of why she carries an inhaler everywhere she goes. Even so, I do not believe there should be laws prohibiting smoking in public places. It's unfortunate that there are people like my mother who have to live with certain diseases like Asthma, but life is not always fair and people need to take responsibility for their own lives and make the necessary adjustments and precautions to minimize the ill effects. There are millions of people who are allergic to peanuts. About 50 people a year die from peanuts in the US, yet no one would ever suggest putting a ban on Peanuts. If you have Asthma and you visit the zoo or go to the beach, just bring your inhaler and avoid smokers when possible. We are talking about wide open spaces with factors like wind that made smoking a non-issue. |
| Ed | 01/17/08 | 10:47am | Cigarette smoke is not causing the problems with your girlfriend's breathing. It's the pollution in the air from vehicles, and big corporations. There's no getting away from the so called poisons you say are in the air even if the cigarette smoke was gone your girlfirend would still have to stay inside because of the poisions from cars, trucks, and big businesses. Are you going to tell them to stop running so you can go to zoo. Be serious! Quit blaming cigarette smoke. |
| Thomas | 01/17/08 | 10:00am | I just don't understand why you people can't have a little more courtesy. I can't take my girlfriend to the zoo or park. She wants to go to these places so bad, but she can't because she gets really very sick. She has asthma attacks and severe nausea from all of the smoke in the air. She has been denied the right to go to the zoo and park. Why do we have to endanger our health so you can have a cigarette wherever you want, without regard to the people around you? You're answer is to hold our breath and deal with it? That's just a horrible, awful thing to say.
Zoo's were made for everyone to enjoy, not just you. The right to smoke in public is not an example of equal rights. It's an example of preferential rights. Just because the visible vapors dissipate, doesn't mean the toxins leave too. My girlfriend has a seven-year-old son with asthma.
All of you, please, quit trying to deflect the issue. I don't like the government in my life any more than any of you. This is about coexistence. Non-smokers can't coexist with smokers because you are completely unconcerned about our rights to breath.
I have not seen one decent argument for why smoking should be allowed in public. You won't compromise, so why should we? You have the right to go to these public places, you have a right to smoke yourself into the cancer ward, but there is no justfiable reason that you should have to smoke in public places. "Non-smokers should stay home" is no kind of compromise. "Buy a CD" instead of going to the concert is no kind of compromise.
We are not here to accommodate your habit. We are not responsible for your habit. So long as you continue to try and force to do so, the government is going to continue to intervene. You can't be reasonable and therefore, I see no reason why I should be.
I'll bet all of you smokers are lit up right now. I should tell you then: you know those acids I was talking about that is generated by the tar and nicotine? They get inside your harddrive and gradually wear it down, causing significant damage. Eventually, you have to replace your ruined harddrive. Those fumes aren't rising. Most of the toxins in cigarettes are heavier than air and so they sink. Where do you think that yellow film on everything comes from? Why do you think your clothes smell so bad? If it was all rising, it wouldn't get on your clothes, now would it? Imagine what your lungs look like.
Yes, it's outside too. We want our rights too and we don't have to breath smoke. |
| Amanda | 01/17/08 | 5:57am | I think what we have here is failure to communicate. LOL been dying to use that one for a while. Like I said, I agree no smoking inside public place. We don't even smoke in the house. As a smoker and a 38 year old woman I am well aware of what I am doing. I also am aware of what second hand smoke does and why it's far more dangerous than what I am putting in my lungs. I smoke through a filter so what I get even though it does have the poisons in it they are somewhat reduced. Not true for what is coming off the tip of my cigarette, someone is getting the full effect. For that reason alone I agree with the not smoking in doors.
Outside though is another thing entirely and yeah, while I don't really think smoking inside is a good idea I am not certain that the Government needs to be involved. They already are involved enough in our personal affairs, from how you discipline kids to what is and is not taught in schools to whether or not being gay and eligible to adopt a child is okay or whether or not you get your children taken away because of religious preferences...yes I think they are far too involved in our lives and need to step out. |
| Bam Bam | 01/17/08 | 5:46am | Ed you've got to pick your battles and if this one bothers you or anyone for the matter GO to your town meetings. That's the only way to prevent these city ordinances or bylaws from being passed. They want to hear from folks like you. It's been on our ballots over and over...it gets passed then it get's cancelled. Then it's on again but with new rules. These things need people like us so that the laws passed are fair to everyone. In Canada they have smoking allowed in pool halls until 4pm when kids get out of school. There is no smoking anymore in bingo halls or restaurants though. Bars still have smoking too, but, they now pay a fee to have the liscence to do it. All that money however goes towards their healthcare system. Which overall (Ive used it) is pretty good. |
| Pat | 01/17/08 | 5:39am | I was so controversial in favorite.com about so much stuff they won't let me back in. I think they took me out back in the summer or fall. I can't really remember for sure. Check there and you will see how controversial I am. It is under my name I use here. You can go back a long ways and read all my comment......it stirred somebody's feathers up. |
| Ed | 01/17/08 | 3:56am | I understand what you are trying to say, but I am very concerned that when the government gets involved with telling what Americans can do we will not have any rights left......I don't mind taking smoking out of restaurants, but give the restaurant owner the right to say yes or no if they want smoking in their business. I have always been a considerate smoker, but when you get people complaining about smoking outside it's getting completely out of control. That's when I and I am sure alot of other smokers get P!SSED OFF! I think people also can judge for themselves where to smoke or not. They can have businesses that have smoking and businesses that don't have it. It is up to every individual to decide which place they want to go. I don't worry about smokers as much as I do with all the drunks out there driving and killing innocent people, if the government wants to get involved they need to work on this. As far as my previous comment to the Hippie Woman I told her to stay in her room with her BONG and B!tch at the wall. |
| Bam Bam | 01/16/08 | 7:57pm | ED are you saying only liberal yuppies are non smokers?You sound young enough to quit brother! What compromise??? Smokers aren't trying to compromise...your simply wanting the right to have your habit where it endangers the lives of others. It's all or nothing with you guys.."your taking away our rights" well your taking away ours.
Hold our breath? That's not a compromise and that is why the government is making laws YET again because we cannot govern ourselves unselfishly. Common sense people please. Don't blow your smoke in someones face. If you can't do that simple common decent thing then thats your problem and that is the type of person you are. It will be forced on you whether you like it or not. Keep ciggys in bars if you must. But remember...you may or may not be a smoker someday and the rights you fight for today may be different tommorow. So, be careful what you ask for..some smoker 10 years down the line might be telling you to bang your Bi**** on the wall. Did I say that right Ed? |
| Amanda | 01/16/08 | 1:28pm | Right on Donna and that is pretty much what I am saying. There are bars and places that do not allow smoking. In 2002 Florida stopped all smoking in restraunts and you know what, thats fine with me. But to make my choice for me...uh uh no way. The more the government is involved in your personal life the less of one you have..and it really isn't up to anyone else to judge, you can choose to not be around it. |
| Donna | 01/16/08 | 1:24pm | I feel that whether smoking is bad or not, isn't the real issue. Our freedoms are at stake. I am a smoker, as well as a bar owner. We have not been smoking indoors and I enjoy the cleaner air inside the bar. I get it-ok?! However, we all have opinions and we all have the right to choose, at least for now. We cannot let the government tell us what we should and should not do- or what is good or bad for us. It starts off with how we dicipline our kids, now it's smoking. What's next? As far as bars are concerned, there should be smoking & non-smoking bars. You'd have the right to choose. It's no different than a gay or straight bar- whichever you choose-you know what to expect inside. If you don't like it- don't come in. But to allow govt. to make that decision for us is a little too big brother for my taste. |
| Amanda | 01/16/08 | 10:59am | Pat bully for you for quitting..perhaps some are not at that point..perhaps some will never be. Be that as it may, If I am outside a grocery store and standing out away from the doors of said store no one is going to inhale enough of anything (except perhaps car exhaust)to make one bit of difference. I am saying compromise...that isn't to be confused with 'all my way'. and btw, just because of this debate I did actually watch the smoke to see how fast it disappeared and it was gone before it was four feet in front of me not to mention that natural tendency to float upwards. So all the omg I am going to get lung cancer from the smokers outside is a load of crap. You're not. I'd be far more worried about car emissions and the crap that your local electric company drops in your air, water and ground before I worried about a cigarette |
| Pat | 01/16/08 | 6:07am | Amanda,I quit in 1987. When I smoked, I smoked 3 packs a day for 2 years just getting started on my fourth pack(I smoked like that for about three and a half years). It took me 2 years to slowly quit, by putting filters on the butt per 10 cigarettes, then another filter per 10 more cigarettes. I smoked for over 20 years and over the years the need for a cigarette was more addictive. By using the filters, I very slowly started smoking less. I know all about cigarettes and what they can do to smokers and non-smokers. No, cigarette smoke does not dissipate that fast! I have read all about cigarettes and the actual poisons that are in them and just from personal experience and other's personal experiences how bad they are. Read my comment further down the page. And Ed, I'll never understand what being a yuppie has to do with being against poison cigs. You guys must be young. I know how the young think, I was once young also(and being young doesn't always make you right about everything). By the way, I don't smoke weed or do drugs or drink anymore just for your info. That stuff was in my ignorant years,too. Also-still the name calling!!! I was a **** when I was younger, now at 52 yrs. old, I'm wiser. Hopefully you guys will gain wisdom as you age. I still must have it though for you to call me a **** at my age. I've never pissed off anyone that smokes, I always met people that smoked that out of respect would not smoke around me when I tell them what it does to my breathing now. Read and study the ingredients and dangers of cigs. |
| Amanda | 01/16/08 | 6:03am | Ed I agree fully. It seems the art of compromise is lost on some. AS I said earlier I AGREE THAT IN CERTAIN PLACES SMOKING SHOULD BE PROHIBITED!!!!! Following your caps lock example maybe folks will understand that. However choice is something we're given and quite frankly when it comes to my personal choice over anyone else's then guess who comes first? I think some of these people are nothing more than co0ntrol freaks |
| Ed | 01/16/08 | 4:46am | I think it's great to live in America so citizens can agree and disagree about all types of things. While we converse back and forth, remember that this is America Land of the FREE and we all have rights and that is what makes this country so great!! Lately we are in an era where certain groups of people (Liberal Yuppie's) that are trying to control what others can do and not do. What happens when you get these sicko's going; they want everyone to confirm to what they think is right. I know we can all get along if they would realize that we all have rights an they need to mind their own business. People with businesses can have smoking if they want. I don't see the non-smokers or the government paying their mortgage, bills etc. If a business has smoking, hey non-smoker go elsewhere. I am sure you can find some Liberal Yuppie place to hang around. The Zoo and Flea Markets that are OUTDOORS should have smoking. It's outside, no walls folks. The smoke does not linger in the air, what Bullsh!t. I would rather be in a place with smokers than the Liberal Yuppies and their rug rat kids, who run all over screaming, breaking things and the parents who stand there and let the little sh!ts get away with it. If we really want to get rid of something lets take away the booze and drugs (cocaine especially--isn't that the Liberal Yuppies drug of choice). When that happens, then we can discuss about getting rid of cigarettes. You see that will never happen, due to the fact the Liberal Yuppies love their booze. They need to deal with the rug rat kids they are having. So quit overstepping your bounds and sticking your nose in everyone's business or rights. |
| CalStar | 01/15/08 | 8:10pm | Having a smoking section in a restaurant is Like Having a Peeing Section in the Pool. A friend of mine was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. She smoked for so long she doesn't have the lung capacity to withstand the anesthesia to get well, to disease will eventually take her. Smokers, it's not about you. It's about the health and welfare of others. Stop being selfish and small minded; look at the bigger picture. |
| Thomas | 01/15/08 | 7:58pm | Thanks, Bam Bam. I don't apologize for a thing I said. That was just a horrible, awful, awful thing to say! I've been doing research since this thread started. According to the American Medical Association and the American Lung Association, in the absence of a strong wind, second hand smoke can linger in an area for several hours continuing to inflict harm on people. And if we are to follow Amanda's idea of equal rights, then little kids can't go to the zoo anymore unless we want them get lung cancer. Goddess, what a horrible thing to say! A non-smoker has to be satisfied to live life in front of the television because these ignorant, assholes can't be bothered to abstain from their precious cigarettes for a few damned hours? Goddess, what an evil, horrible thing to say! Not smoking for a few hours won't kill them, but smoking could kill someone else! Do you know how many people die of an allergic reaction from cigarette smoke? We do not have to live in their ashtray! Goddess, that is just horrible! Why the hell do I and the rest of our families have to imprison ourselves in our home so that Amanda doesn't have to struggle to find someplace to smoke??? What is wrong with her??? Why does a little kid have to stay away from the zoo or the amusement park so that these assholes can blow their poison into the air??? I also have a comment from my girlfriend. She has never smoked a day in her life and yet she has lung-cancer and asthma from cigarette smoke. Assholes like the smokers here don't have to take responsibility for the harm they cause to others so who gets to pay the medical bills? Not the smokers! They have their own medical problems and Goddess knows they had the right to blow poison in everyone's faces. Amanda sounds like a broken record. She just keeps saying the same damned thing over and over again. Damned worthless. I thought she at least had some decency. Goddess, what a horrible thing to say.
Amanda, you have the right to go anywhere you damn well please, but you do not have the right to spew poison all over it and ruin it for everyone else!!! Your rights don't include ruining the health of everyone around you! YOU DON'T LIKE IT? PISS OFF!!! |
| Bam Bam | 01/15/08 | 6:29pm | Public Bans are becoming common place all over the nation. We'll see who's whining ED a little further in the future! Put your butts out now and quit before you have to hibernate and smoke behind your own four walls! (Insert Evil Laugh Boowahhh) |
| Bam Bam | 01/15/08 | 6:24pm | Right on Thomas! And Whatever ED! What makes a non smokers rights any more valid than a smokers? Allow me...any person who wants to live healthy I believe has rights before someone who chooses to poison themselves or the public. I have every right to breath free in a public place. That's as bad a someone in public being on a cell phone and asking for privacy. CAN YOU say NO. Frankly, anyone who has decency should seriously know better. HOLD MY BREATH?? HOW ABOUT HOLD YOUR SMOKE! I'm not yelling just emphasizing. Tell me to hold my breath after you've had cancer. I don't go to bars because it makes me sick BUT those places are for smokers. I can't remember not being able to have a beer without a smoke..SO bowing out of those places well that's an intelligent choice...but to deny a non-smoker the right to a public place like a flea market where families go to shop on weekends. NO WAY JOSE! I"m not the only non-smoker there...should all the babies and little kids hold their breath too? It's not about rights..it's about being responsible and being respectable to those around you. 95% common sense and 5% skill folks! |
| Ed | 01/15/08 | 1:41pm | Hey Amanda maybe she needs a cigarette to calm down.....This issue is never going to be resolved because to many people whether a Yuppie or Hippie will never understand that our rights have been taken away!!! If the Hippie does not want to be around smokers stay home with her bong and B!tch to the wall. When you are OUTSIDE (Do you think she will understand when it is in caps) that there are no walls so there is no danger from us smokers)....Did she ever think that maybe people smoke around her to p!ss her off......because of her comments it seems she could of p!ssed off a smoker or two. You never know....... |
| Amanda | 01/15/08 | 1:03pm | Pat all I have to say to that is apparently you have not seriously looked into the prohibition era of this country. As far as not caring..my aren't you presumptive..lemme ask you this..how long ago did you quit??? If you've never smoked then I suppose your making a lot of assumptions you don't know jack sh!t about now aren't you. |
| Pat | 01/15/08 | 11:35am | It all boils down to the fact that a smoker cares about no one but themselves and not their kids or any family members that do not smoke. All I hear is why don't non-smokers go somewhere else, what is the reason we have to go somewhere else? Why don't the smokers go somewhere else. You are the ones that don't care about anybody else's lungs, but your own...then again you don't care about your own lungs. You say we are whining,but when I read all of the comments, it is the smokers getting angry and whining and name calling. By the way, I'm not a yuppie...I was a hippie in my time. I belive in freedoms, but sometimes that freedom can go too far in a lot of things, especially in the past 15 years or so. Their has to be a line drawn somewhere. It should start with cigarettes and alcohol. If there was a ban just on those 2 things, people would be one step closer to better health. Once you went through withdrawal from addictive cigarettes, then you would be just fine. Then we could start on drug abuse, then all the unhealthy additives in food, then put exercize back in the schools and take out all the vending machines. That's just some of the small stuff. After that, then the bigger things. That is not taking people's rights away, that's just making people healthier. Now be sure to whine and name call. |
| Amanda | 01/15/08 | 5:26am | Thanks Ed...apparently some have yet to figure out that they have arms and legs ( or wheelchairs for that matter) that are fully capable of going the other way. They also do not understand compromise. Outdoor areas are fair game, don't like it then you can avoid it. Stop the whining. Oh, and btw..people get cancers and other diseases that have never been around smoke or anything else..so what are you gonna blame that on? I say get over it. Don't go, use the arms and legs the Gods gave you and mind your own business. |
| Ed | 01/15/08 | 4:14am | This is not a smokers world! It's a LIBERAL YUPPIE world! Parks and Zoos are outside with no walls so you don't have to worry about smoke being trapped to harm anyone. The problem is that some non-smoking idiots want to control everything anyone does. We all have rights! If you see someone smoking go the other way instead of ****ing and crying about it. As far as any business, they should also have the right to have smoking or not, but again the Liberal Yuppie is ****ing and crying to have their way. They need to worry about what is happening in their own home. When their rug rat kids act up disipline them. I am so tried of hearing that their kids are just expressing themselves when the rug rats are wrecking a store or screaming on an air plane. So stay out of a smokers life and work on your issues at home! |
| Thomas | 01/14/08 | 6:43pm | You know, Amanda, we do agree on one thing: there should be no tolerance for people who don't care about other's rights. You are on a soap box of your own, lady. You have shown your true, greedy and selfish, colors. The park and zoo should be a healthy environment for other people and children and anyone who says "get over it", doesn't give a rat's ass about other people's rights. It's all about your rights. You want to ruin the parks and the zoos for everyone else and then tell us to "get over it". Sick people have a right to enjoy these places too and they can't because of people like you. People with lung conditions and bronchial degeneration have to stay away from public places, even the outdoor ones because of it. This is a smoker's world. If everyone here wants to call me whinney because I want to go to the park or zoo without endangering my health, to hell with you all. Being a smoker doesn't make you a bad person. Being a smoker and being considerate makes you a good person. Being a smoker and not giving a **** about the welfare of people who don't want to breath that garbage (and then saying it's their fault for going to the park and zoo where there is smoking) is the last example. Nobody's saying you can't smoke but if you can't even have the most basic consideration for other people, then I am going to regard for what you are and I won't waste another second on you as you truly are a waste of time. |
| Amanda | 01/14/08 | 3:16pm | You can choose what you do and when you do it. Out doors smoke dissipates rather quickly. I look at it this way..as I have said..I understand restraunts and other places like that, but everywhere, get over it. Make your own Non smoking parks and ban smokers. that way, everyone gets what they want. If I want to smoke thats my business and none of yours. There is nothing in this world that prevents any of you on your soap boxes from forming your own non smoking parks or flea markets. As a matter of fact, most indoor flea markets are non smoking in the south. The ones that are out doors..you can light up.
When a person shows me they care not for anything but their own rights I loose any tolerance for them. I have rights too and I will do as I see fit to protect them. Most people in most towns know where the smoking places are vs the non.If you don't smoke and you show up...it's called being a masochist..you know whats there, and you go and you don't have to be there. If its a band, buy a cd or catch them in a non smoking place. deal with it on your own and stop blaming others for what upsets you. |
| Ed | 01/14/08 | 1:36pm | Thanks Jeff! It's good to hear from someone who understands what's seems to be going on with our country. People don't realize first they tell you that you can't smoke in public places. What's next? It's not a happy thought.... |
| Jeff | 01/14/08 | 12:52pm | Well said Ed. I am a big proponent of freedom and less government intervention. If a person wishes to smoke in public places like parks, beaches, or other outdoor areas than they should have the freedom to do so. I'm not a smoker myself, but I do enjoy a good cigar from time to time and disapprove of the government limiting my rights. The government's role is limited in scope for a reason. Passing laws prohibiting smoking in public places is a clear example of a government overstepping it's bounds. |
| LU | 01/14/08 | 12:43pm | I AM SO TIRED OF BEING TREATED AS A THIRD CLASS CITIZEN, BECAUSE I SMOKE. BACK IN THE 60 - 80S IT WAS COOL TO SMOKE. NOW IT'S NOT. MAYBE THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ACTUALLY STUDY THE EFFECTS OF THINGS BEFORE THEY LEGALIZE IT!!!! AND NOT AFTER MILLIONS ARE HOOKED ON IT. MAYBE THEY SHOULD ILLEGALIZE ALCOHOL WHILE THEY ARE AT IT. I HATE THE SMELL OF ALCOHOL IT MAKES ME SICK, AND IT DESTROYS YOUR LIVER AMONGST OTHER THINGS. (DUI AND KILLING OTHERS). IT'S SO FUNNY MANY AMERICANS DRINK. MY CONCLUSION IS.... IF ONE THING DONT KILL YOU ANOTHER THING WILL. THE WATER, FOOD, ASBESTOS, AIR....ECT (SO LIVE AND LET LIVE!!!!!) |
| Ed | 01/14/08 | 11:55am | It seems that it all about the winney non smokers. It's one thing to stop smoking in restaurants and places of work, but (Hello) there are no walls outside. Just hold you breath when you pass a smoker, or walk the other way, and stop being so**** retentive. Some of you seem to miss the poin; Our rights are being taken away one by one, whether your a smoker or not. |
| Alexandra | 01/14/08 | 11:42am | Here is my question: Why does it have to be "either or"? We all have to live together and we will always find something that bugs us. How about finding the middle way? I know all the arguments about not having "smoking" areas, i.e. having a "smoking" and "non smoking" area in bars or other places where adults hang out, but I still think that if somebody wants a cigarettes with their beer or their coffee that they should be allowed to do that. There are much more offensive smells out there, and I am referring to car exhausts here. They are dangerous too and I am surprised that no one ever says anything about them. I have a little car and when I leave my window open I always get the exhaust from those SUV's and Trucks in my car. It's horrible. I can ask the same question that "anti smokers" always ask: So what, you don't want me to open my car window?"
All the arguments aside, I think we owe it do ourselves to find the middle way and not be considering our side of the story only. And to those that think that it is dangerous, well, there are a lot things that are dangerous. Welcome to life on earth. |
| Pat | 01/14/08 | 11:33am | Making cigarrettes in the first place for people to smoke should never have happened. But the companies did, now they are filthy rich and just plain filthy(and I don't care what they say they give out in charities or whatever). That's just a ruse to keep making those poisonous, filthy, very stinky things. Years ago when I finally quit, I thought my walls were still white and I didn't notice the yellow and the smell yet, until I started painting white on the walls again and washed my drapes. The apartment had been painted and new drapes put in right before I moved in. That was about one and a half yrs. of living there and smoking. I am very clean in my home, but I didn't see that filth. You talk about surprised!! I couldn't believe it. With the warning on the side(and I do remember when that was put on the packs, you would think that would stop people, but it doesn't). People do what they want to do. I always found out if someone cared if I smoked around them or in their home, if they didn't want that, then I wouldn't do it. BUT people that smoke don't even realize how horribly bad they stink. You can put on perfume or cologne and trust me you still stink. It makes your breath stink, your hair stink, your clothes stink, your car stinks,your home stinks, and if you have kids they even stink. Now I didn't realize that for the first few years that I had quit, but over the next few years after that, I told my family and everyone since then how horribly bad cigarette smell is. No wonder my family and friends and boyfriends that didn't smoke used to tell me how bad the odor was. I would laugh it off and just kept smoking. Now I know what second-smoke can do to someone that doesn't smoke,and when I used to smoke, they didn't even know about second-hand smoke yet. It is more dangerous on others that don't smoke than on the ones actually smoking(as bad as that is). It's very dangerous for adults, children, little babies,pets and even your house plants. I have seen a lot of mothers that smoke while they are pregnant or holding their infants and smoke. To me, that is sickening. And by the way, for every puff a pregnant woman smokes, it takes the oxygen away from the baby. I know that smokers think that people just want to take away their rights, but what about the non-smokers rights? Why should we stop going to different places, just because you are there with a very filthy, stinky, poisonous cigarette in your hand or sticking out of your mouth? I can walk by someone that is smoking or just have the odor on them from the smoke and it actually suffocates me. I totally understand why people that don't smoke, don't want it around them. But when you smoke, you don't really care about what it does to anyone else.(It's all about-ME, ME, ME!!!!!) Smoking should be out-lawed completely! Now if smokers want to talk about drunk-driving or the ozone layer or tree destruction or the oceans and rivers being polluted,well...that's for another poll |
| Ed | 01/14/08 | 11:13am | Smokers should have the same rights as a non-smoker. I feel I am living in Russia. Smoking outside in public places is not the problem. It's the liberal yuppie's that want to take over. The smoke does not stay in one place it disappears. If you pass someone smoking, hold your breath. If you have allergies stay inside. If there is a place that has smoking don't go there, stay home. We have more issues going on in the world like drunks that get behind the wheel and then kill people. Sorry I forgot we can't get rid of liquor, because the liberal yuppies need their liquior and drugs to make it through the day so they can deal with their rug rat kids they created. We should create a law to ban all liberal yuppies and their rug rat kids from restaurants and air planes or any public place. What a joy that would be. So see when you start picking on one group, you can certainly find other groups to pick on. So don't ban smoking from all public places!!! This is still America! |
| Thomas | 01/14/08 | 6:48am | So what, Amanda? Non-smokers don't get to enjoy the park now, because a smoker wants to light up in public? We don't get to walk our dogs? People with asthma, like my girlfriend have to hide indoors so that you can blow smoke anywhere you want? And why is smoking in a park allowed anyway? Cigarettes contain several thousand polluting chemicals. The butts are made from fiberglass and won't decay for thousands of years. The combined tar and nicotine produces an acidic coating when burned, which can harm vegetation and wildlife, not to mention the fact that you're giving that poor chipmunk lung cancer. A park is a preserve. It's protected. We all know you're just tossing your butts on the ground.
So I don't get to go to a flea market now and neither does my girlfriend? Unless we want to get sick, the flea market is the exclusive privilege of smokers? I guess this means the zoo is off-limits too. Smoke doesn't just blow away. It hangs around in the surrounding air too. It hangs around enough that it's visible and it lingers. To deny people the right to access these public outdoor places in a healthy atmosphere is selfish and hateful. You can go a couple of hours without a f****** cigarette. People take kids to these places, Amanda. Parks and zoos are established with children in mind. I guess they just have to live with it. Is there even any point discussing this? It's not like you would actually give up your right to poison anyone in breathing distance. Anyone who defends the right to smoke in public is going to have their opinions as to why it should continue to be permitted and they won't be swayed. What's it going to take, the people around you begging for their lives? Quite frankly, you sound like a hypocrit. I never stood up for those rights, even when I was a smoker. I don't understand why other smokers can't have some courtesy. That's all we're asking for. I think a kid should be allowed to watch polar bears and ride down a biking trail without having to breath your smoke. I don't think a flea market should be any different. |
| Yo Yo | 01/14/08 | 6:39am | Of course smoking should be banned in all public places. You are finding this is the trend in most civilised nations that have realised smoker's are a burden to society by draining the public health care system with their 'preventable' health problems. It's ridiculous, and ignorant, to suggest that when someone goes out in public they should tolerate something that is, in essence, anti-social. Take are everyone - and quit smoking! :O) |
| Amanda | 01/14/08 | 6:08am | I see things this way. If you are in a flea market, you know smoking is allowed there...don't go. No one's making you go, you have the right to not be there. As a matter of fact non smokers have every right in the world to not go anywhere they know smoking is allowed. If you do go where smoking is allowed and whine about it...well no one twisted your arm now did they? To me that makes as much sense as expecting someone who smokes in their house not to light up because you don't smoke. boohoo..don't go. restraunts, sure,Wal-Mart, sure but other places, flea markets, parks and all of that..well if you know its there and you go then who actually 'made you sick'. You did of course as you didn't have to be there in the first place now did you? What makes a non smokers rights any more valid than a smokers? Absolutely nothing. |
| Nvnk | 01/14/08 | 3:00am | Long live smokers! |
| Bam Bam | 01/13/08 | 11:43am | Thomas I just thought of something after you said why should smokers care if non-smokers get sick. Well, we can make them care...they can pay for our medical through those high taxes I mentioned if they don't take measures to protect those that wish to lead a healthier life I think that's a very good option. Not only that...who can afford to smoke at that price? That will help you quit. I lived in CA for 3 years and that's how I kicked the habit! |
| Bam Bam | 01/13/08 | 11:38am | Smog in LA is whole other matter. But, Phil key phrase you had "so long as it brings no direct harm to others" second hand smoke is a direct harm. I acutally have been to "outdoor" places like flea markets, people smoke there too and it's equally bothersome and RUDE. I can't breathe, if peple want to smoke go somewhere where there is no one standing or walking by you. Being a former smoker I've noticed that my lungs and esophagus get very irritated from smoke, I cannot even go to bars to karaoke because it effects me so much and dammit I loved a good Marlboro light. But, I am far more happy I quit. None the less, I agree to ban it! Ever laugh at some old movies where the Dr's light up and talk about someones disease! I just saw that the other day! How times have changed. |
| Amanda | 01/13/08 | 11:01am | I currently do smoke and hopefully will quit soon. We do not smoke in the house and I don't think restraunts malls and the like should have smoking inside of them. However, if I am in a park, walking down the street or otherwise outside then I say sure, go ahead and puff...until you fix the smog in LA and other cities please don't talk to me about how smoking outside 'effects you' as it doesn't..you actually have to be pretty near me in order to worry about it and then thats on you. |
| Thomas | 01/13/08 | 8:33am | Yes, Bam Bam! We are definitely on the same page with this one! Circus, I am 27 years old, I quit in March of last year after three failed attempts since the age of 17. I have smoked from the age of thirteen. I finally managed to quit when I reached the point that I just didn't have a desire for it anymore. Even before I quit, I could never understand the logic of having smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants. Filteration is only going to keep non-smokers from being annoyed, not sick. I can see exactly what you are talking about. I never wanted anyone to inhale my secondhand smoke. So many people are so unconcerned for others, and they know better. I, like Bam Bam, notice that the nay-sayers are conspicuous by their absence in this discussion. Maybe they think it should be okay to just let everyone get lung cancer, COPD, and asthma from their smoke and to hell with any non-smokers. Why should they care about anyone else as long as THEIR rights don't get trampled on? Who cares about everyone else's rights? Right? |
| Circus | 01/13/08 | 6:40am | I wish that (some) people were not tantalized to try smoking. I never did- I hate the smell & seeing ashtrays loaded up with ashes always made me want to vomit. I have had asthma from my mom having smoked while pregnant with me and she continued to smoke all while I was growing up. That was my turn-off for even trying it. I'm finally proud of my mom, having quit after 55 yrs of smoking, albeit with COPD and spots on her lungs. My bone to pick: There is no way to contain the secondhand smoke 100% and prevent it from irritating other people. I had a casual acquaintance, a musician/singer, who died March 1, 2006 at the age of 39 from rapidly progressing lung cancer. She NEVER SMOKED in her life ever- so how was she to suspect she was at GREAT risk for this? Perhaps it was being in all those smoke-filled bars to sing in her bands? It was a real shame to lose this acquaintance - she was incredibly talented. |
| Phil | 01/13/08 | 2:13am | I gave up smoking 23 years ago this March.
However much I dislike smoky atmospheres and still cannot reconcile myself to anything that approaches a ban.
I still believe that we all have the right to destroy our lives, poison ourselves and generally treat ourselves badly, so long as it brings no direct harm to others.
Those who would deprive us of such rights are just as bigoted as any other extremist.
People reading this should recall the power of Free Will we have in our lives and not to allow any apparent Destiny to govern our lives.
Peace, Love and Light |
| Gentledove | 01/13/08 | 1:36am | YES! YES! YES! Stop smoking in Public! Oh somebody tell my Dad to go OUT and SMOKE! I am dying!!!!!!! Coughs!!! Chokes!!! Wheezes!!! Splutters!!! I am Aaaasthmaatic! And he NEVER listens to my yells!!!!!!!!!! Cigarettes should be BANNED altogether!
sigh!
|
| Joyce | 01/12/08 | 3:31pm | Thankfully, smoking is ONE nasty habit I never had a desire to try. I NEVER smoked in my life, am now 62 years old, but I have been hospitalized multiple times for bronchitis and pneumonia and 12 years ago I had a lung abcess. My doctor told me it was from living and working around smokers for most of my life. When I was growing up in the 50's, nearly everyone smoked. I lost several family members to lung cancer, throat cancer, emphysema, and on had both throat & lung cancer.
These were people who smoked BEFORE the GREEDY tobacco companies started using all these POISONOUS and dangerous additives! Now that the additives are in there, (including arsenic!) I certainly wouldn't want to smoke even IF I had in the past. I think most people start smoking to prove a point, that they can CHOOSE whether or not they want to do so, but the trouble is, it is SO
addictive, that after a very short time, they do NOT have a choice. They are just like heroin junkies in that respect, having to rush out in all kinds of weather to feed their habit, etc. I do not think increasing cigarette taxes will help smokers to quit, it will only force them to spend money they COULD have spent on something healthful on their cigarettes instead. I resent the STINK of smoke as much or more so as the health hazard, but I see no reason to torture the smokers any more than they are already doing to themselves. IF we told a smoker we would put them in a room with reduced oxygen and increased carbon monoxide, they would protest, yet they will PAY to do it to not only themselves, but to non-smokers, including their innocent infants, pets, etc. I worked for an ear, nose & throat doctor, and I would venture to say that 95% of kids who had ear infections lived in a home where at least one parent smoked, sometimes both parents. IF you smokers don't care about your own health, can't you care about your own kids? |
| Tim | 01/12/08 | 2:38pm | Smoking in public places should be banned. Not just because of the smell. Not just because if its bad-for-your-health effects. But also because almost all of you smokers out there complain that you want to quite, complain that it is bad for you, and complain that its too addicting to stop, and that you have no will power to do so. You complain, and then when a smoking ban is suggested, you complain? If anything, won't this help you smokers curb your addiction, if it is indeed something you wish to curb? For those of you who have no intention of quitting those coffin nails , and prefer to inhale cigarette smoke instead of oxygen, do it away from the majority who wish to either quite (trying to quite while others are smoking around you is almost torture), or never started in the first place. And just a side note I would like to get off my chest: those of you who who smoke cigarettes, but complain about pot smokers... just... why? |
| Bam Bam | 01/12/08 | 2:38pm | After all the votes...it would seem the NaySayers are too chicken to bawk? I think people who want to live healthy have the "public rights" over those who would rather put their lives at risk. Let's go one step further though Thomas...put super high taxes on ciggys and pay for health care coverage for the Nation! Let's import that from Canada. Did you know in Canada ciggarettes are almost $90 a carton? |
| Claire | 01/12/08 | 8:17am | I say in all enclosed public places. |
| Thomas | 01/12/08 | 6:10am | Absolutely. Even when I was still smoking, I thought smoking sections in restaurants were ridiculous. What's the point of having a non-smoking section? I think that it should go one step further? No smoking in public places, period, inside or outside, except in smoking sections well away from the door. Smokers may have a problem with this, but here it is: my girlfriend has asthma. She leaves a building and there is someone smoking right by the door, and she has an asthma attack. You are making a conscious desicion to smoke while I made a conscious desicion to quit. Why do I have to keep inhaling the smoke?
You're addicted and can't quit? Boo-hoo. Who decided to start smoking in the first place? High school friends can put you under peer pressure and the tobacco industry can put their adverts on the side of ice cream trucks. Hell, they can even put the cigarette/cigar/pipe in your mouth and light it (most people will know better than to put their hands near your mouth and if this does happen, you've probably already consented), but who's the idiot that decided that he/she liked it enough that he/she wanted another? You do know that you are most responsible, right? Just because I'm fifty pounds overweight, does that mean I get to blame McDonalds?
Sorry, mostly venting. Surrounded by assholes. Most of them don't care if they're blowing smoke in your face while they're talking. Why is that my responsibility? |
| Bam Bam | 01/11/08 | 7:18pm | As a former smoker, yes, smoking should be banned in public places. It's gross, it smells and I don't want my own smoke in my lungs let alone someone elses. |
| Bob | 01/11/08 | 1:03pm | Derspringer99@hot mail.com
i was in support for this web site. |
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