Smokers "Rights"

Originally posted by TheHypnoToad

I disagree with the statement of "it's unconstitutional!" Smoking is not a constitutionally protected right.

That's my whole point... IT SHOULD BE! We are addicted! We got addicted before society (aka the government) decided to make it a taboo... Our body is chemically addicted, therefor it actually effects they way we act, think, and function when we dont' get to smoke... So it is not really just a "choice" to smoke anymore... If we choose not to, negative side effects come with that choice...

When we chose to start smoking we new it was unhealthy, but we didn't know we would be forced to smoke outside in the freezing cold, harsh winds, and thunderstorm like weather... Females didn't know that if they wanted a cigarette they would be forced outside in the night where prediters could be lurking...

So yeah, it was a choice, it is not as simple as just choosing not to smoke anymore... so... if we started smoking BEFORE this law passed, we should be grandfathered into the old law!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Blue10110

Only thing I agree with is that smokers could at least have weather protected smoking areas.
And it isn't a discrimination. Don't you smokers care for other people's health???
It's sad that there are such addictions in this world

If smokers were a protected class (I know were not, but if we were) then this WOULD be discrimination!

Anyway... I thank you that you agree with my weather protected smoking area... Remember, when we started smoking and became addicted we were aloud to smoke inside... protected from harsh weather and such... Now that we are addicted they have taken this away from us, the only fair thing to do would be to replace it with another! (smoking forts lol)

But the only way that will happen, the only way the government could mandate this, is if they consider us to be a protected class, as we should be... it is either that, or the grandfather clause... we started smoking under the old law, we are chemically dependent now and there is a new law... We could probably fall under a grandfather clause... I will look into this!

After reading through some responses and get the jist of what the OP is trying to convey I think I know what's going on now .
Perhaps just a designated "Box" or something of the sort that many airports have where you can sit in and smoke? That sounds like one way of "Solving" the problem in which it can be placed inside or outside (though if its outside, you better hope it has heat :lol

I guess In a way I'm FOR smokers "Rights" or at least being protected, but I'm against smoking due to health issues it causes so on and so forth.

We all have rights, being fat, gay, a smoker, or any other "group" should not give anyone special rights, We all have the same rights,

I'm not entirely sure why you made a new thread, but hey, i'll disagree with you here too.

You CHOSE to do something that you KNEW was bad for you, that you KNEW was addicting, so no, you don;t deserve any special treatment for doing that.

Take your filthy, harmful habit outside. You're cold? Put a coat on.

I do feel bad for the lady working in the mall, but you made the choice to smoke so you have to put up with everything that comes with it.

The short form of my arguement is always going to be 'you made your bed, so you can't complain about having to lie in it'. You can chose to give up and lead a healthier life, you can choose to stop breathing in (and out) carciogens that harm you and others around you, but you don't. You come on here and say you deserve special treatment. Sorry, but you don't.

I like a drink. I drink alot. More than most people. I know it's terrible for me but I choose to do it anyway. I don't think that I should be given special breaks in a cosy enviroment to have a pint a few times a day. And my drinking doens;t harm anyone else, at all. Your habit does.

Originally posted by mother_jung
We all have rights, being fat, gay, a smoker, or any other "group" should not give anyone special rights, We all have the same rights,

Fine... Fat people have the right to eat inside, I want the right to smoke inside... Oh wait, I bet you will argue this!

This is why they need special rights... We don't ALL NEED A RAMP TO GET INTO A BUILDING OR SPECIAL PARKING so handicap people get special rights to have these things provided, we don't all need smoking forts outside so we need special rights to have one provided...

@sparda4355

If we can prove our chemical dependency than you can’t keep saying it is a choice…

If you're dependent you can still stop buying cigarettes and check in to one of those treatment homes where they also treat drug addicts so you DO have a choice to stop, just because you don't want to, doesn't mean you can't.

As for obese people, it's difficult to say if they should fall under the protected class, because after all food is necessary to stay alive so eating more than you should is triggered by something you CANNOT avoid - eating!

And besides obese people who just eat to much, there are also diseases which stop the body from burining fat so these people really can't help their situation.

And most importantly, obese people do not hurt other people. Smokers don't want to hurt other people (atleast most of them) but hundreds of people are killed every year because if passive smoking.

No one can stop you from smoking inside your house or anywhere on your own property, but as soon as you enter public property and you make someone uncomfortable with your smoking you will have to stop.
So the problem isn't that you can't smoke, it's WHERE you can't smoke.

If I were to visit Manhatten and there would be someone next to me smoking and the smoke would blow in my face I would ask him to stop or to go somewhere else. This would not happen if a fat person would be standing next to me (unless that fat person would also be smoking..but thats beside the point ).

[edit on 9-3-2008 by redshirt0202]

Originally posted by Vector J
I'm not entirely sure why you made a new thread, but hey, i'll disagree with you here too.

You CHOSE to do something that you KNEW was bad for you, that you KNEW was addicting, so no, you don;t deserve any special treatment for doing that.

Take your filthy, harmful habit outside. You're cold? Put a coat on.

You're missing the point... We did make this "choice" and we made our "choice" when smoking inside was legal and accepted... Now that we are chemically addicted and okay with that... you have changed the rules and make us smoke outside... We ALREADY made the choice, we are now happily stuck with the CHOICE we made, but the rules have changed...

Your arguement makes no sense!

You would be right if I get lunge cancer and cry about it, you can say "you made your bed now lie in it", but this whole smoking outside thing was NEVER part of the deal...

It is not like 10 years ago when I smoked my first cigarette some magic bird came to me and told me, if you do this you will become addicted... Once you become addicted 10 years from now they will change the laws and they will force you to freeze and get rained on when you smoke... and I said, no problem birdy, I am okay with that... I choose to smoke knowing I have to go outside and freeze ten years from now...

So... your arguement ONLY WORKS for anybody who starts smoking after this law went into effect... and if that is your arguement than fine, I will agree with that... But for the rest of us, we should be either grandfathered into the old law, or protected by a new law that gives us rights to a safe area to smoke!

Originally posted by redshirt0202
@sparda4355

If we can prove our chemical dependency than you can’t keep saying it is a choice…

If you're dependent you can still stop buying cigarettes and check in to one of those treatment homes where they also treat drug addicts so you DO have a choice to stop, just because you don't want to, doesn't mean you can't.

And most importantly, obese people do not hurt other people. Smokers don't want to hurt other people but hundreds of people are killed every years because if passive smoking.

If we stop smoking... negative side effects come along with that! We think the negative possible side effects of smoking are worth not having to go through the absolute side effects of quitting!

enough about fat people...

as far as smokers... show me one case where somebody died because they were around smokers (not counting if they live with a smoker)... Remember although I don't, we still have the right to smoke in our home around our loved ones, so your agruement only holds true if somebody hs died because of second hand smoke and they DO NOT live with a smoker... Make sure you can also prove that they did not live in a city and that they were not around anything else that could have caused their death!

reply to post by sparda4355


Sparda, I didn;t miss the point, you did.

Are you really trying to claim that if you'd known that this law change would happen, you'd never have started smoking? Can you really have the audacity to say 'how dare they change the law for the benefit of people and inconvience me'?

Rules cahnge all the time. They change the tax here on alcohol pretty muhc every year, I don;t complain about that based soley on the idea that it was cheaper when i started. How dare they charge me more for my favourite tipple, if they;d told me it would be pricer in later years then I'd never have started!

You see how utterly ridiculous that sounds?

You are upset that you are being inconvienienced by a law that exists to promote better and healthier conditions for people in general. I'm not saying you can't smoke, i'm not saying you shouldnt, i'm just saying that you should at least have the good grace to go do it over there where it won;t effect me or anyone else. Sorry that that might be outside, but i'm not going to fund a building for you to go and essentially slowly commit suicide...

It is not like 10 years ago when I smoked my first cigarette some magic bird came to me and told me, if you do this you will become addicted.

But you knew you would become addicted to it, everybody does.

And what you're basically saying is that companies should give YOU more free time because you don't want to give up a habit that's going to kill you.
You can at any time check in to one of those treatment homes (where drug addicts are treated too).

All you have to do is get your a** off the couch and do something and stop expecting others (the companies) to make you more comfortable because you don't want to quit smoking.

[edit on 9-3-2008 by redshirt0202]

[edit on 9-3-2008 by redshirt0202]

Originally posted by sparda4355

as far as smokers... show me one case where somebody died because they were around smokers (not counting if they live with a smoker)... Remember although I don't, we still have the right to smoke in our home around our loved ones, so your agruement only holds true if somebody hs died because of second hand smoke and they DO NOT live with a smoker... Make sure you can also prove that they did not live in a city and that they were not around anything else that could have caused their death!

I can't give you specifics but try reading these for some statistics:

quitsmoking.about.com...
www.lungusa.org...

Forget about the rest... I agree, you should be able to do this on break, heck it should be encouraged!!! Where do I find this drug? How much does it cost, and will you ship it if I pay the fees?

Salvia is expensive and to many people, it does nothing. To others, like me, it has a very intense effect lasting about 30 regular minutes or about three or four days according to me. It is scary, I would say do not do it. If you don't have any effects its a waste of money, if it does it scares the bejeezus out of you.


This isn't an issue of Smokers Rights, it is an issue of the rights of a business owner to allow or disallow smoking in and on their property.

Another issue I have with this is that smokers take up the responsibility to fund things like the SCHIP LINK. The taxes people pay to buy tobacco is (mis)used by the government to fund 'positive' programs. I think if we are going to make people that are addicted to tobacco pay for such things, we should allow business owners to regulate their own smoking policies. The government taxes the crap out of tobacco, but users and business owners have no input on their regulations that the government installs in their communities. The rights of a smoker/business owner should be the same as the rights of everyone else but this is not happening.

Basically, if the government wants to regulate where one can smoke for all people and their property they should not force people to pay taxes for the legal substance they choose to use. Read the link I posted above to understand how this tax is actually retroactive for smokers AND the SCHIP.

An obese person eating next to me is not going to give me a headache or put me in danger of getting stomache cancer. You however will its your right to do it but in a public place it shouldnt be allowed you are putting people at risk when you do your deed. smoke at home or anywhere outdoors where its allowed Ill stay away but when Im eating I dont need to be inhaling toxic fumes and putting up with it because your addicted?

There are many ways for you to stop smoking and people do it everyday some only because of the price of the cigarettes others need more help instead of saying I should be designated a special place or allowed to smoke anywhere why not get help or quit all together? Its your decision to keep smoking not the rest of the worlds.

Sorry thats just Truth...

I don't think smokers should have to go outside of their homes to smoke (if they have no children and no parter/smoking partner), they should have to go outside of a public area (indoors or outdoors) to smoke where the second-hand smoke can not reach other people. It's not complicated.

Obese people aren't spewing chunks of lard down your throat into your stomach to make you fat if you get near them.

I am speaking as a former smoker and someone who got addicted to smoking through second hand smoke. Once I fully understood the ingredients of a cigarette I had little problem quitting.

Everyone has the right to not be drugged and poisoned against their will. That is exactly what you are doing to people when you smoke near them.

i'm more of the mind that smoking should be aloud back in bars in CA... its a bar for christs sake, you can sit there all night and watch yourself and others around you get wasted and start showing off skin but you cant enjoy a smoke because some one might get offended??? whats the difference between smoking in a bar and 5 feet in front of the door and watching it all blow back into the bar???

P.S. you can get salvia at almost all head shops, i've tried it, i tripped for 5 minutes and saw some pretty colors and felt a little high, then it gave me a head ache... i'd rather have the green buds thank you.

reply to post by FredT


Err . . . just showing how I think smoking can be equated to obesity, which was on topic.

All those people who complain about second hand smoke . . . why do I have to endure watching an obese person gorge themselves? It is just as sickening, in my mind.

Originally posted by Jigore

What a contradiction! But I guess thats ok because smoker's were forced to change there smoking habits by law. If they had obesity law's in resturant's and bar's, how well would that go over with the general public?

Definitely!!! It'd be like putting a giant scale in the restaurant for everyone to see.... and if you weighed more than you're supposed to you could only eat off the light n' fit menu! Okay it'd be about the same equivilant to what were dealing with here!!!!

[edit on 3/9/2008 by diana]

Originally posted by Vector J

You CHOSE to do something that you KNEW was bad for you, that you KNEW was addicting, so no, you don;t deserve any special treatment for doing that.

I like a drink. I drink alot. More than most people. I know it's terrible for me but I choose to do it anyway. I don't think that I should be given special breaks in a cosy enviroment to have a pint a few times a day. And my drinking doens;t harm anyone else, at all. Your habit does.

Well ifyou think about it depending on how old you are, you didn't always know smoking was bad for your or addicting they use to make cig commercials to cater to children, I know my parents had no idea tobacco was mad for you.
Now how about this since your not a smoker you don't identify with it. Let's go back to the prohibition days and now say alcohol was illegal. All of a sudden hyour addicted to have your drink with dinner or out at the bar on the weekends and now it's illegal. How would you feel about that?????

I hope all smokers have to smoke outside. It does affect the people around them. Handicap people do have parking spots, inclines, special help etc. They didn't choose to be handicapped and most of the places with these extra features chose to install them just like you elected the officials that went into office who chose to ban smoking in certain places. I can't stand watching parents smoke with kids in the car and the windows up, it's inhumane. Alcohol gets taxed more and more but I'm not complaining, if I want to do it then I will. If I take a shot it's destructive to me not to the public, smoking is. It smells, it's nasty, terrible for you and decreases the value of your automobiles and homes. If I go to a bar and they're smoking I have to wake up and wash my sheets, clothes, and shower or else I start coughing and it makes my girlfriend gag. It sucks that you're not mentally strong enough to quit a habit. It really only relaxes you because you allow it too, if you did yoga it'd have the same effect if you would be open to it. Do yoga at work, I'm not gonna get upset, it'd be better then hacking up a lung