Snuffed Out: Smokers Need Not Apply

Just a little incentive to quit smoking. How about a new $1 per pack tax?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

My dad quit 5 years ago after getting hooked on dirt cheap nicotine in Vietnam. He set aside his cigarette money for the first 6 months of cessation and saved enough for a nice addition to his power tool collection.

some people want the world to be utopian too fast.

I mean with this they want to "change" the community a bit and advocating non smoking but francly that aint gonna change anything because the only way it will stop is if people somehow become way more intelligent then we are right now.

I smoke my self sometimes and although I do know its bad Im not strong enough and smart enough to stay off of them

reply to post by jibeho


Jibeho, I usually agree with your posts but I would love to see some non smoker keep up with my old work schedule. Of course with my type of work I was allowed to smoke.

And if someone takes extended work breaks, I guess they know where the unemployment line is.

All of this social engineering by employers and government is bull#.

We will always have things detrimental to our health. I still have not had anyone address the issue of overweight people or other health risks.

I guess it has to do with the fact that maybe you do not want to broach those other subjects because people are hypocrites.

Guess what, when I ran my company a few years back, I did not hire anyone overweight. Of course I did not say that was the reason because I did not want to get sued. Now if people want to not hire someone for some reason that is fine.

I just ask that people leave my bad habits the FRELL alone.

I get taxed $5 on a $6.50 pack of smokes.

I call it time to tax a FRELLING BIG MACK $10! And a WHOPPER $20!

How bout them apples(pun intended)!

reply to post by mamabeth

Exactly. Sorry if I got you miffed, I am just pointing at the hypocrisy.

As for the tax crap. I cannot wait til the government has to start raising all your frelling taxes people.

Then I am going to LAUGH and say tough TITTY!

Right now I am going to call for NEW sin taxes on all candy, soda, coffee, donuts, cake, any entertainment like Movies or Sports games etc etc etc.

I think we should raise taxes on all these things at the same rate as tobacco.

Let us see, that would be a 375% SALES TAX!

reply to post by jibeho


I am a smoker. I never took extra breaks. We were given 15 minutes twice a day and that included the elevator time. To exit the building you had to go by the receptionist and she was instructed to write down the time we left and the time we came back. I learned to power smoke. I can clear 2 100s in that time frame including the travel time.

The non smokers however spent an inordinate amount of time standing around all day talking to each other, taking personal phone calls, personal e-mails, shopping on line, etc.

All "lost time" can only be controlled in a heavily supervised situation. While we as smokers were monitored on our breaks none of the above behavior by non smokers was ever monitored or addressed.

Just because we are smokers doesn't mean we take advantage of situations. That behavior is not caused by a habit. It is caused by a person's work ethic.

reply to post by endisnighe


I understand where you are coming from. I watched my dad both struggle with and enjoy smoking my entire life. The issue and it complexities almost ended my parent's marriage. Today, he can't believe that he ever smoked a pack and half a day. My mother in law is a heavy indoor smoker and her husband has heart problems and shouldn't be around the smoke. She still smokes because she is afraid to quit. She is afraid that quitting will actually make her sick. She may be right after smoking for 45 years.

However, in the workplace, companies are free to enact such policies without recourse. The hospitals in particular are offering to enroll people in cessation programs for free. I am sure obesity employment issues will soon follow if healthcare costs continue to rise. Many people are denied life insurance coverage everyday based on personal habits and lifestyles that include smoking and healthy weight issues. That is whole other issue. I'm a large frame 6'2 and weigh 230 pounds. The insurance company thinks I'm overweight and a risk.

Taxes on cigarettes are getting excessive and people are bootlegging and stealing cigarrettes as a result. What will the govt. do when everyone quits or gets their cigs. illegally?

Its a complex issue and I can clearly see both sides of it. So far, I only of know of hospitals that have restrictions on hiring smokers. The small business owners may be next in order to save on benefit costs.

They are absolutely right healthy lifestyle is a choice and I agree taking an ample amount of breaks at work is unfair to non-smokers. That said I smoke and have never had a problem with it at work (when i was working mind you). I'd tough it out if I needed to but to say that I can't work because I shoose smoking over fast food and alcohol? I don't know about that. I am a cynic and started smoking for the sole reason I knew I wouldn't be around when I was eighty. This stinking turd of a planet won't get better, only worse and this is one small way I see it happening.

When every unhealthy habit and lifestyle is taxed equally than I wouldn't complain. Singling out smoking is a political move.

Cheers

I have managed departments. My observations:

1) Smokers don't think they are lazier than other workers but they are. They take more time to smoke than they think, and the smoking slows them down. They are addicts, and addicts are delusional when it comes to justifying their own habits. They are, on balance, inferior employees.

2) The other major category of inferior employee I noticed over time is obese people. They are generally, slower, lazier, and less intelligent than healthy people of normal weight. Not politically correct to say, but clearly true. My belief is that they also behave like addicts, with pseudo-food being their vice.

If I owned a company I would maintain veto right over any new hire, and I would never hire a smoker or an obese person. These are choices people make, and it is completely reasonable for an employer to discriminate in this way. After all, you are in business to profit, not to be a welfare program for slow suicides.

reply to post by endisnighe


I was having fun!
I know how to make my own junk food,so there is no problem.
I don't watch TV much,don't smoke,don't drink alcohol.
Now,if TPTB, taxed my sugar,flour,milk and eggs as they do tobacco,
then there will be a problem!

Another smoker here who never took more time for breaks than were allowed. I too have seen non-smokers take much longer breaks. I was just as productive if not more so. As for smoking off the clock, companies should have nothing to do with that. Many non-smokers think they are safe but wait until your snack food is over taxed or something else and they will change their minds quickly.

Originally posted by jibeho
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

Have you ever been closely handled by a nurse who just got back from a fresh smoke break? Yum Yum smells pretty good.

The smoker never smells the stench of a fresh smoke break.

Yes, I have its disgusting. I complained to the head nurse because smelling that on her HANDS said she did not wash them, which bothered me more than the disgusting smell. I also did not let her keep touching me.

And again, no problems here with smoke free work place. But until tobacco is illegal, do not tell me what to do when I am not at work/on the clock.

While I do believe employers have a say about what you do on their time, which they pay for, to insinuate they control what you do during your personal time is a violation of civil liberties. They should not be permitted to get away with this.

We remain quiet, while they remove our rights bit by bit, right by right.

If this is successful, it won't stop here. No matter how you feel about smokers, this is another step in a very bad direction.

It absolutely should not be permitted.

I would say if they have a policy such as this, they need to have an equally strict policy that states alcohol, drug use, prescription drug abuse are also things they would not hire for. Unfortunately they cannot discriminate on alcohol abusers as there are federal programs to protect a worker going through rehab for drug usage. I think this policy stinks, worse than the cigarettes they are hoping to ban the use of.

Absolutely ridiculous. I hope the hospital is also not hiring overweight individuals, people who drink, and those who drive a little too fast. I cannot believe blatant discrimination like this is allowed to go by in the name of "health". Insane. Smoking cigarettes is completely legal and as an adult it is my personal choice what I will and will not do to my body. How anyone has the oversight to dictate that is beyond me.

st another form of control to cull the population into making it seem ok to discriminate against a life choice.

If you choose to smoke, that says something about your personality...

If you choose to work at Job A vs Job B, that also says something about your personality...

Every decision we make is contingent upon a million other factors that are at play - I have to put dinner on the table, I have to pay the bills, I have to send my kids to school, I have to have time to workout...

Simply put - If the new policies don't match your personality, your needs or your lifestyle - There are other fish in the sea.

It's a forward thinking approach to adopt such a policy, and it certainly does alienate a significant portion of the population...But that off-kilter balance will be picked up eventually by the many other employers who don't have that policy - And it's only a precursor for things to come if it's adopted by a majority of like-minded people...Otherwise, it will remain a "fringe benefit" that either attracts or detracts prospective applicants.

[edit on 2/12/2010 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

To all those who accuse smokers of being "less productive"

1. Remember your history. After world war II, over 70% of men smoked and 35% of woman. This was a time of unpreseded productivity that built both the US and Canada.

2. Regardless of what you are told about smoking and tobacco, it does sharpen and focus the mind. A smoker whose job productivity relies on his mind may be actually increasing his productivity by taking a 10 minute break to smoke a cigarette and think about whatever problem he/she is currently trying to solve. It is no different than a non-smoker who gets up to have a drink of water and a chat with a co-worker.

3. What are the top time-wasters at work. Take a look..

www.davidsonstaffing.com...

Notice that smoking isn't even on the list.

4. The medical community as a whole are not like office workers. They cannot leave their patients just anytime they like to go for a smoke.

5. You find the smell of a smoker objectionable. Well then why don't we just start penalizing nurses who smell of sweat and who fart. If you think about it, hospitals are a place where the people with the most social skills are usually the best at taking care of you. One thing that is startling different about smokers from non-smokers - the one characteristic that stands out - smokers are social people.

6. Workplaces that attempt to force smokers to quit are not new. Some companies have gone so far as to penalize people whose spouses smoke. And most of the posters are right. It starts with smokers. Then when obesity soars and people develop diabetes, health care costs rise and the employer must go farther to achieve the same goal.

Can you not see that this is about power/control...not health?

"Brother, do you not know that your body does not belong to you but to the state?" (NAZI state propaganda).

When socialism arrives, it will arrive wearing a white coat.

If you are really trying to cut health care costs, you should charge extra fees to those who take prescribed medication. That is where the health care costs are really rising. Better yet, health care plan membership should be restricted to only those who are healthy.

Either non-smokers stand with smokers on this one or wait for your turn. And smokers will be laughing the whole while.

TIRED OF CONTROL FREAKS

GM built a smoking room for people between 2 large office areas. Spent a lot of money on exhaust fans and double doors. It was open a month and one woman sued because people smelled like smoke when they went back to work. So they locked the doors and built a room out back-a 5 minute or mora walk for the smokers. The place is gone now and the loss of productivity probably was the case. When smoking in the production area was terminated quality dropped and so many people went on sick leave they actually had to hire people. That place is also gone.

Originally posted by hotbakedtater

Originally posted by jibeho
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

Have you ever been closely handled by a nurse who just got back from a fresh smoke break? Yum Yum smells pretty good.

The smoker never smells the stench of a fresh smoke break.

Yes, I have its disgusting. I complained to the head nurse because smelling that on her HANDS said she did not wash them, which bothered me more than the disgusting smell. I also did not let her keep touching me.

And again, no problems here with smoke free work place. But until tobacco is illegal, do not tell me what to do when I am not at work/on the clock.

I understand your point. But these companies are free to do this unless they are told they can't. Unfortunately, smoking is one of those habits that carries over to the workplace and some people NEED nicotine more than others. Often to the point of not being able to function effectively.

Most smokers can't just check it at the door and wait until they drive home for a cigarette. Especially in a hospital environment where many employees work extended shifts well beyond a typical 8-5 day. Couple that with the added stress of the job in say a Level 1 trauma center or a typical ER environment. A smoker in these environments will need nicotine throughout their shift.

Once again, the only entities that are doing this are Hospitals. They certainly have more justification than other companies may have.

Originally posted by TiredofControlFreaks
To all those who accuse smokers of being "less productive"

1. Remember your history. After world war II, over 70% of men smoked and 35% of woman. This was a time of unpreseded productivity that built both the US and Canada.

What's the control though? I have nothing to compare productivity rates at that same time to non-smokers, likely because there was no study at that time to show productivity in smokers vs non-smokers

Originally posted by TiredofControlFreaks
Either non-smokers stand with smokers on this one or wait for your turn.

Very true...