My Smokers' Rights: Plus a few questions for my fellow addicts.

Originally posted by dgtempe
Listen:

Cigarretes are bad for YOU. Alcohol is bad for for non drinkers who are killed, their lifes ended by a drunk driver.

Get rid of alcohol. NOW.

Look...Im rebellious by nature. so if people keep telling me "cigarettes are BAD for YOU, that wont fix me but only deepen my resolve to show them that a) smoking is alright for ME and b) I can think of much worse things than smoking. One a side-note, last time I drank alcohol was at a party two months ago...nothing bad about that either.

Originally posted by SimiusDei

Sucking smoke into your lungs is not good anyway you look at it. However, all of the diseases that are supposedly caused by smoking, I tend to have a hard time believing.



Jasn

ANYWAY you look at it? ok: what about native americans handing around their pipes of peace in order to clear their minds?

Its a form of racism you are being discrimentated against because of the colour of your lungs

on a side note the health warnings may or may not be as accurate as they say ..

But my major problem is this ... they sell them legally, if they were to ban them i would have a much easier a time giving up but the don't they still want to reap the massive tax rewards whilst appeasing the masses on the non-smoking side of the argument. hypocrisy at its best!

Originally posted by Quantum_Squirrel
Its a form of racism you are being discrimentated against because of the colour of your lungs

HAHAHAHA That was good. Where's the damned ACLU when you need them?


Jasn

If smoking is so bad for your health and the Governments of the western world have all but outlawed it, then surely the whole depopulation of the planet by the NWO has to be bogus ??? or does it ?.

I would like to put forward a possible senario....nicotine is supposedly the second most poisonous substance behind Botulism for smallest doseage to kill humans. It also has this property were it kills small organism's as well, like say a contaigen ?. If the NWO had a killer bug to pass out to cull humanity and it could be defeated by smoking ? then the steps would be in play to eliminate smoking before it was delivered to the masses
.

[edit on 28-8-2007 by mazzroth]

smoking is none to cure alzheimers and parkinsons. these two are established facts but I suspect theres more.

in ancient times the native americans claimed that smoking keeps away and cleanses evil spirits and entities.

Smoking band and a hatred of free will.
In my opinion this outback for banning smoker from all public and social life, is du meanly from a new waive of extremism.
Absolutism is what drive people all a round . it is not absolutely bad to smoke as it is not absolutely good to not smoke.
You have the same concept of absolutism in vegetarian people and also in many others groups that force they notion of wellbeing to other. As absurd as it may be, by forcing someone else you are just decreasing your potential of free will.
All this people that claim to have find spiritualism or humanism, better look at them self when asking other to give up they freedom of will.
I have a cigarette now…

Kacou.

I smoked for 25+ years, untill one night my heart went into A-fib. My cardiologist said it was probably bought on by nicotine. Pretty scarey, so I quit. I figure I'm saving between $1600 to $2000 a year. It's been 4 years, and there are times I still want one. I wish someone would come up with a cigarette that's actually good for you.

Originally posted by shadow_soldier1975
As soon as you light up, us non-smokers have to smell that *SNIP*, and breath it in WITHOUT choice

I may be a smoker, but I echo that very same sentiment about car-drivers...as a cyclist I have no choice but to breath in the foul lead-laden exhaust fumes that inconsiderate drivers pump out of their cars whilst driving the 400yds to the shop because they're too damn vehicle-dependant to walk...practically every car I see on the road on my morning commute has a single occupant, and I must pass several hundred on my journey, all pumping out kilograms of crud per vehicle.

Not forgetting to mention the number of life-threatening near-misses I have to contend with due to those same inconsiderate vehicle-dependant folk who think only about their own safety on the road...

Originally posted by bmpemb
I smoked for 25+ years, untill one night my heart went into A-fib. My cardiologist said it was probably bought on by nicotine. Pretty scarey, so I quit. I figure I'm saving between $1600 to $2000 a year. It's been 4 years, and there are times I still want one. I wish someone would come up with a cigarette that's actually good for you.

My Grand father smoked till he was 80 and gangrene of the spine from a bed sore killed him eventually at 91. My father never ever smoked a single cigarette but has just gone through Chemo for throat cancer, Im not saying people aren't ill affected by nicotine but for the people who develop heart atacks, cancer or illnesses who don't smoke are just as numerous.

The fact a bad habit can be attributed to an illness is nice and clean for the health authorities and a open and closed case is solved.

Smoking is a dirty habit...but so is homosexuality and thats being portrayed as being acceptable now...wake up and smell the coffee as teh officials are feeding us crap to suit their own ends.

Originally posted by bmpemb
I smoked for 25+ years, untill one night my heart went into A-fib. My cardiologist said it was probably bought on by nicotine.

This is can't understand. My brother-in-law had a heart attack and the first thing they said was....do you smoke.
He does, but he also eats copious amounts of red meat, gets no exercise and drinks quite a bit. Why do the doctors automatically blame ciggies?
Another question one would think to ask, is is there any heart disease in your family....but nope...its the ciggies.
I grew up in a house where everyone smoked and i am healthy. I dont smoke in the house myself (i have kids) but i still smoke and am healthy.
Like another poster here, i'm not entirely convinced its as bad as they claim.

Like yourself, Geek, I also smoke and am in relatively "perfect health"...I have also had smokers in both sides of my family who have lived long lives and died of non smoking related illnesses...

However....

I do believe smokers have a responsibility to non smokers to limit the effects of their smoking on these people, which is what i practice...

dont smoke anywhere near kids, don't smoke in cars or enclosed places, dont smoke in public places if it might lead to non smokers inhaling your smoke...

Sure I want the right to smoke pretty much where I want, when I want, but a bit of common sense and courtesy goes a long way with this issue

Good OP Jasn and good posts within this thread folks

Peace

if we actually look at the claims regarding smoking and health, there are a few things that don't add up.

i hear all the time that x amount of people die in a year due to smoking related diseases, like heart disease or lung cancer or whatever but its never made clear how many were actually smokers, so i really don't know how much smoking increases my chances of getting these diseases. if there was a large statistical difference between smoking and not smoking then surely this would be highlighted.

also, the claims seem pretty circumstantial, tobacco contains carcinogens, fair enough, but so does pretty much everything else. water these days contains carcinogens. how is it possible to single out smoking as the main cause of any smoking related disease. for that matter, i can't see the logic in claiming that passive smoking is bad for you. how many parts per million is a safe level of carcinogen resulting from tobacco? don't tell me 0, thats ridiculous, even radioactive particles have a safe ppm level.

okay, so it can't be good for you exactly, but there is a safe level, if the claims made by the anti-smoking lobby were realistic then we would all know the answers to these questions, we don't, which smacks of propaganda to me.

Originally posted by bmpemb
I smoked for 25+ years, untill one night my heart went into A-fib. My cardiologist said it was probably bought on by nicotine. Pretty scarey, so I quit. I figure I'm saving between $1600 to $2000 a year. It's been 4 years, and there are times I still want one. I wish someone would come up with a cigarette that's actually good for you.

Stay strong. Quitting smoking has GOT to be hard.

Yeah the price of cigarettes is ridiculous now, all these new taxes just keep coming. A carton of the cheapest generic smokes I can get here, costs me about 17 bucks and change. That's a lot cheaper than some other parts of the country but still, for around here it's expensive.

As for smokers' rights, we don't seem to have any. And that website you linked to made me laugh. Does anyone really think RJ Reynolds would give two farts about anyone's rights if it weren't for the fact that higher tobacco taxes are cutting into their profits due to people smoking a little less?

Originally posted by SimiusDei


Sure, smoking is a nasty habit, but then again so are many of the other habits most of us are guilty of indulging in from time to time. Drinking, junk food and other habits lead to as many health problems (if not more) than cigarettes do over time. However, cigs seem to catch a horrible rap these days.

There is one small problem with comparing cigs to junk food or drinking. When I eat junk food or drink alcohol, some of it does not spill off out of the bottle and down the throats of people nearby.

Sure, eating red meat and such may be bad for you, but keep in mind that is bad for YOU and that is your choice. There is no choice to inhaling 2nd hand smoke.

When you smoke, the smoke coming off the cig and not through the filter is inhaled by me and other people nearby. I know you have seen what your filter looks like when your cig is finished. Well, the people inhaling your 2nd hand smoke don't have the benefit of inhaling it through a filter.

I am not villifying smokers and don't think they should be banned, but they should definitely be banned from ALL public places. [/rant]



[edit on 8-28-2007 by nyarlathotep]

reply to post by nyarlathotep


once again a case of you not reading my first post. I do NOT smoke around others without asking first.

Sure there are some inconsiderate smokers out there....but the same goes from drinkers and people that love to slurp and smack their food.


Jasn

Originally posted by SimiusDei
reply to post by nyarlathotep

 

once again a case of you not reading my first post. I do NOT smoke around others without asking first.

Sure there are some inconsiderate smokers out there....but the same goes from drinkers and people that love to slurp and smack their food.


Jasn

That's great, and you are to be commended for your efforts and the inconveince it puts you in, but have you given thought to how many other people really do this?

Not very many at all. 8-10 people on ATS hardly represent the behavior of smokers everywhere. On my campus, smoking is banned entirely because people were told to smoke at least 15 feet away from ALL entrances, and apparently that was a bit much to ask, as no one followed the rule, and now smoking is only allowed across the streets of our campus - where no one is forced to inhale that awful smoke.

You also have to consider the ergonomics of smoking in the proximity of other people. Cigarette smoke stinks, plain and simple. I don't want that on my clothes, I hate it, and when it does get on my clothes, as I'm sure all you smokers know, it's one of those scents that linger.

Smoking was your choice. It's not my choice if some inconsiderate smoking-to-be-hip-or-cool college student decides to smoke right outside of the library entrance.

Don't take this as an attack, far from it, as I said those of you who DO make the effort to take your smoke away from non-smokers are to be commended, especially for the inconvenience it poses to you. Thank You.

But you, unfortunately, are not the majority.

Some are so quick to curl their nose in disgust if they get so much as a slight trivial whiff of second hand smoke, but I wonder if they ever stop to think that maybe the way they look and smell isn't exactly a joy to the senses either.

It's ok to be holier-than-thou and go around looking like you have a turd taped under your nose, or have rancid stankin' beer breath that can knock me out from across the room, or have some big ole jiggly thighs flappin' in the wind. That's not offensive to anyone .

Even so, as a long time smoker, I do, and truly believe all smokers should in public, limit non smokers exposure to their smoke as best as they possibly can

Me, i think its good manners and just the right thing to do...

Sure others might debate that an so on, and they have every right to do so...Me, if I found out later in life that someone had contracted specifically from my smoke, I'd find that hard to deal with...

So for the last few years, I've done all I can to limit exposure to other people from my smoking, and will continue to do so.

It isn't hard to do (those who need help with this, feel free to U2U) and frankly, its the right thing to do

Peace