Belmont to be first U.S. city to ban all smoking

Originally posted by jrdc099
last i knew its still the United States. and its still a "free country". i just got back from iraq, and there is no way anybody is going to tell me that i cant walk down the street while enjoying a cigarette. ive fought and lost friends so that we as americans can continue to enjoy the rights and benefits of being an american. and im not going to stand idly by while a bunch of nit-wits try to strip us of our rights. thats right smoking wherever i please is a right. and im going to continue to do so. i dont care whether you like it or not.

MY HERO

Your right and im with you on that all the way, I will continue to smoke, weather or not you like it. Mind your own buisness and stay away from me, i show curtosy when smoke and finished smoking, In sc the fine is up to 1 thousand for littering, as well a throwing cigarette butts out the window, so simple people don't do it. If your bringing up the iseue of smoking starting forest fires you must be ridiculous, I think i red 51% percent of smokers litter with cigarettes? PFFT! thats a good one, in fact thats not tru, and anyway believe me if the smokers had a good place to discard butts all around then maybe they would'nt be ended up on the floor.

Has anyone else besides me noticed that ashtrays are not in automobiles today?
Maybe if they started putting them back in cars no one would be throwing their butts out of the car window anymore.

[edit on 17-11-2006 by MagicaRose]

Agit8dChop,

I think you are really going overboard.

I can understand a person being upset over something but you are OBSESSED with people smoking.

Are you trying to start a civil war amongst smokers and non smokers?

of all of the quotes/comments here, this one struck me as the most worthless honestly. no offense dyepes, this isnt personal but does act as an example of what people dont understand:

Originally posted by DYepes
That filter, that is biodegradable is where most of the 100+ hazardous chemicals ends up while you smoke. Those nasty chemicals leech into the ground. Would you have no problem with me dumping a 5 gallon bucket of that crap into the local reservoir or aquafer?

sure, go ahead, dump 10 gallons if u like....ill drink it and wont feel the least bit worried about it. parts per million/parts per billion anyone? same as air. its concentrations you have to worry about.

yes, i smoke. (more on that in a bit) but i tend to be a courteous smoker. 12 years in the army and my last assignment i was in the minority being a smoker. there were only two of us on the team that smoked and so id stand downwind of the other guys when i was smoking, out of respect. (nevermind the rest of them chewed and their spitcups were everywhere)

i wont smoke around anyone elses kids, and i have none of my own at the moment.

im fine with no smoking in resturaunts and bars where the OWNER wants it no smoking.

but my CAR?!?!?! yer joking right? i mean really? MY CAR?!?! thats just insane.

ok, fine smoking is bad...

but i pose a question to the committee...i have a rather nasty health condition and the meds are almost as bad as the regular symptoms. one of the worst symptoms is overwhelming debilitating fatigue. it takes a lot to get me "up and at em". excersise is out for me, its really actually quite bad for me. caffine and nicotine are stimulants, and while the delivery methods for nicotine are bad for me, the nicotine in and of itself is rather helpful to me.

so, in the absense of nicotine...whats going to help me feel like a real human? anyone?

oh, and the whole addiction/work from home bit. alchoholism is listed as a 'disabling condition' by the social security administration along with being overweight and depressed. yet, smoking isnt. unfair? eh thats a stretch and i know it but the SSA is on my craplist along with google these days.

Originally posted by Diseria
But, it's illegal to grow your own tobacco plants.

[edit on 17-11-2006 by Diseria]

It ISNT illegal to grow your own tobacco. It is simply illegal to then sell that tobacco without a license. Tobacco seeds are available online for purchase, if you ever get the notion. I noticed that you said you smoke the occasional pipe? Please check out smokersforums.org. There are a lot of people there who could help you venture into the world of pipes, and away from cigarettes. I'd recommend that to any smoker, as pipe smoking preaches moderation, and appreciation, as well as patience, and a contemplative spirit.

Originally posted by MagicaRose
Agit8dChop,

I think you are really going overboard.

I can understand a person being upset over something but you are OBSESSED with people smoking.

Are you trying to start a civil war amongst smokers and non smokers?

yeah, ya prolly right.

its just that i get touchy when my lungs are being damaged,by that rude person sitting next to me at the park.. when kids are around... puffing on the cigerette.
Then seeing the child RUN up to her mum, and get used to the 'fag in the mouth' mentalitiy...

that kid'll be just right for the picking when they hit 18... smoking will be enevitable.

What do we save in 10yrs time..if we outlaw cigerettes today
What do we lose, in 10yrs time..if we allow the next gerneration to have the burdon of cigerettes.

Yes!!!!!!!!! Its only a few cities down from me maybe the whole peninsula will go smokeless.

Why is it that smokers view the world as thier own personal ashtray? Look at the number of butts that go flying out of cars etc.?

OK....

Agit8edChop, your comments show you are insensitive towards others and care more about judging people than you're enjoying your own life...some words.

IT IS NOT THE YEARS IN YOUR LIFE BUT THE LIFE IN YOUR YEARS.

You know what is far more deadly to others than second hand smoke? Mercury.

The reason i say is because of the recently passed CLEAN AIR BILL. Big Business lobbied washington to actually allow the legal limits of Mercury and other toxins into the air because they did not want to be held accountable to clean up their act.

Is it healthy NO! is McDonald's...NO. Is Chocolate? NO! so lets ban it all.

The follow up argument would be but that doesnt harm others.....Can you name one person that has cancer from second hand smoke? One that you know personally? The way i see it is aside from maybe the bad smell, which is a matter of opinion personally, Second Hand smoke causing irreversible damage to others hasn't been proven. And as for the smell, I am going to petition Old people be banned from bars and resturaunts because i just cant enjoy my meal with all the damn cologne/perfume they wear. They're sense of olfactory has diminished greatly so they just practically bathe in it causing discomfort to thoses around them when they are in public. Lets ban old people. Or here's a better idea, how about we learn some tolerance.

My best friends parents were smokers growing up. The smell disgusted me as i wasnt a smoker and was only 7 at the time. You know what i did, I adapted. I didnt say, i cant hang out with you. The same goes for people with dogs in their houses, you dont avoid them, you adjust if they really are your friends. Despite how much you hate the smell.

As was pointed out earlier, as stupid as it is to ban smoking from bars, which are well known smoking facilities, that is fine, but if i cant smoke in my car, that isnt affecting anyone but me. If i live in an apartment, and that is illegal, that doesnt affect anyone. Public Places is one thing, but private environments is ridiculous.
I repeat:

ITS NOT THE YEARS IN YOUR LIFE BUT THE LIFE IN YOUR YEARS.

Couldnt Agree more.

What does the man on the bus next to me suffer.. when im eating a bigmac?
Can i get addicted to bigmacs? on the scale of cigerettes?
Can you show me stats of the amount of people that have died, from Mcdonalds?
Or the amount of people that have died, being near someone constantly who eats Mcdonalds?

If you want to eat fatty food, you suffer. you put on weight, you become unhealthy.. and it changes YOUR LIFE.

But when you force people in their own community to have to breathe in your smoke.. when you doing it openly in society influences everyones childeren to accep it..

wouldnt all you smokers out there RATHER your childeren never were at risk to becoming addicted to cigerettes?

I dont care if you choose to do it,
Just do it in private.. away from the majority who want clean air, and a relativley healthy community.

We endure enough with automobile smoke, chemicals in our food and so forth, we dont need this completely UN NESSECARY addiction, that brings nothing positive for our society.

Admit it, wouldnt you of ratherd never picked up your first cigerette?
Would you hope your childeren never have to fall into the same trap?

Has anyone here ever heard of second hand smoke? Yea its a killer..

Someone prove to me that second-hand smoke is a killer. Please. That 50k statistic is BUNK, if you ask me, totally unprovable and unwarranted in light of the fact that very few people ever discover the source of their cancer.

I hear that nonsense constantly, but I've yet to see any HARD EVIDENCE that a tiny puff of smoke from someone's cigarette is going to cause a cancer in a non-smoker.

Do you have the faintest clue how many tons of particulates are thrown into the air every year from forest fires? More than all the cigarettes combined!

ONE (1) volcanic eruption is going to put off more carcinogenic chemicals, particulates and smoke than a billion smokers could in a billion years.

So please..try to put the issue in perspective.

Everyone relax please! Everyone calm down and have a cigarette.

Ciggies help me relax when im tensed. They help me think when im alone and need to...umm.....think. Ciggies are fun to smoke socially. Ciggies make u look badass. Ciggies are great after sex. Ciggie smoke impresses girls if you can make smoke circles.

Point is, ciggies have lot of advantages which the non-smokers are missing out on.
I was smoke free till I was 19 years old. But after having my first ciggie, I realized that a part of my life was missing. I became an avid smoker since then. As they say, once you go black(lungs), you dont go back.

Im still as healthy as before and as mentally sound too. So all of you please stop arguing and have a ciggie break. Ciggies are great. 'Dont knock em till u try em' is my motto. If you are under 18, then I will buy u a pack, just ask.

Anyway, you guys carry on, I need to go outside and...umm...get some....umm....fresh air.

Originally posted by closettrekkie

So basically what you're saying is it's not hypocritical to be spouting about police states and govermental control as long as it agrees with your little world? That is what I meant by hypocracy, not the fact that there are smoker and non-smokers disagreeing.

And how is smoking in my car hurting you?

Nope, you missinterprested my message.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
Someone prove to me that second-hand smoke is a killer. Please. That 50k statistic is BUNK, if you ask me, totally unprovable and unwarranted in light of the fact that very few people ever discover the source of their cancer.

When i am at my friends house and there's like 10 people there smoking and i get the smoke in my eyes and in my troat and i wake up with a cought i can assure you that second hand smoke is no different then smoking the damn thing your self.

I haven't read the entire thread, but I wanted to give my 2 cents worth. I'm an ex-smoker. Yay!

I think the town has the right to say whether their streets are smoke-free or not. What a person does in their own home is their business, but the people of the town have a right to walk down the street without being overcome with cigarette smoke. It really is unpleasant to some people and some are allergic to it.

Personally, I like the smell and whenever I walk by someone smoking, I take a big, deep breath and enjoy it!

However, if some people wanted to defecate on the street, the smell, the mess and the unsightliness of it would have others complaining. It's the same principle. If you want to poo on your floors, go ahead, as you and your family will be the only ones affected, but doing it on the street interferes with other people's right to breathe "clean" air. Second hand smoke may not kill people, but it's highly unpleasant to some.

You can't just do whatever you want wherever you want, not when living in a society where other people have rights, too.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
Its your right to smoke correct... because you have the phyiscal ability to put a cancerstick into your mouth, its your right.

Well, its my right to physically place my hands around your neck squeeze until u go limp too...

No, it isn't your right. It's called assault. You don't have the right to assault people.



[edit on 18-11-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

I love how smokersd will argue "It's my life, I can do what I want with it. If I'm hurting anyone it's only myself."

Funny how smokers cost us taxpayers billions of dollars to keep them alive when they're dying.

This smoking-free city is the best news I've heard in ages.

I fully oppose pharmaceutical drugs, I am in full opposition to the existence of alcohol as well, I am as well opposed to pollution from automobiles, and peoples horrible habits of just thropwing garbage on the ground. I am also opposed to caffiene, as well as illicit drugs.

However, I focus on tobacco and cigarettes here because that is what we are talking about. I do not consume caffiene (sodas, coffee), I do not consume alcohol, I have stayed away from pharmaceutical drugs for years, and strangely enough staying away from all of these things, I have not gotten even a cold that lasted more than 2 days.

But of course I focus on tobacco here because that is in fact the topic. And I believe the fact of the matter is, if there were a national vote for our nation, and the simple majority decided to ban smoking in all public spaces, than that is democracy, not facism. Facism would be a small minority, or a single person dictating to all others they cannot do this. However this was a popular vote that became law. The keyword here is vote . everyone had their choice, and the majority ruled they did not enjoy tobacco or their exposure to it. No dictates, no nothing.

you have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Smoking tobacco you are violating your own right to life. Our liberty and pursuit of happiness is violated when you try and tell us you can smoke wherever you want and that we should move our asses if we dont like it.

I live in America, and if the popular vote says its got to go, than its got to go.

I would like to know how the statistics they use to bolster the second hand smoke argument are gathered. Also, are lung cancer rates on the decline? They should be according to the evidence. Also, I wish some of you would learn how to spell correctly.

Originally posted by DYepes
you have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Smoking tobacco you are violating your own right to life.

There is no such thing as violating one's own rights. If I have a right to something, that doesn't mean I must pursue it. I either exercise my rights or I don't. And that's my free choice. Other people have no say on whether I exercise my rights or not.

I live in America, and if the popular vote says its got to go, than its got to go.

Sorry, that's not exactly true either. If the popular vote said that black people have to sit at the back of the bus, that doesn't mean it will happen. It's not the "popular vote" that's the deciding factor, it's the violation of others' rights that determines whether or not smoking can be outlawed.

And smoking in my own house or on my property, as long as it doesn't violate others' rights should be nobody's business.

My country has banned smoking in public areas, in restaurants, pubs etc. Countries like Italy, Ireland I think, and next year France too. When that law passed in Italy I heard that 1 million people stopped smoking after one year!

It seems to me that all countries in old Europe are heading the same way in the future.

It's really nice to enjoy a restaurant without the blue smoke hanging around.