Smoking in public....should this be banned?

Originally posted by spacedoubt
First off, I am a smoker.

I totally understand the no smoking indoors rule..I don't even do it in my own house. Unless you count the garage, in the cold cold winter.

Amen.

Finally, I agree 100% with a post by spacedoubt.

Things are looking up!

That's why I like the idea of non-smoking rooms/smoking rooms in resturants....

Point is, is we are not supposed to regulate responsibility, only criminality.

Smoking will, and can never be, banned from use within your own home, so it can not be excluded from daily life. It is not illegal because it is generally a victimless crime.

You can choose not to eat at McDonalds (which obesity is almost as bad as smoking) which is known to have extremely bad food for your body, and WILL contribute to health problems.

Banning smoking in offices and malls is one thing, because they are generally common ground where people work, therefore must be.

I don't see the problem with letting the establishment choose. Some already do, and they don't seem to be losing any business.

Case in point. Many Denny's in my area (a local favorite for the after bar scene, goths, misunderstood poets, etc) went non-smoking. This was bad for the crowd that packed them in the evenings and early morning.

They are still packed and people smoke outside or not at all.

Sounds scary...

Yeha I don't think people will stop coming to a particular resturant because they are not permitted to smoke in them.

The problem with having non-smoking and smoking sections is resturants and bars is that smoke cannot read.

[edit on 11-11-2004 by The Teller]

Another smoker here I'm afraid, but I understand that non-smokers don't want to breathe in poisons from my cigarettes. In fact, I hate smoking around non-smokers and especially former smokers. It's also quite nice to get some fresh air after a meal at a restaurant (I know, fresh air and smoke sounds stupid). I'm not sure how it will work in Pubs and Clubs though, and whether they will loose business because of it.

According to ash.org.uk (published in 1999), smokers pay about �10.5 billion in VAT and duty in the UK, but according to NHS figures, only �1.7 billion is spent on tobacco related diseases. So if everyone (in the UK) gives up smoking how will the government continue to raise this sort of money?

Originally posted by spacedoubt
I totally understand the no smoking indoors rule..I don't even do it in my own house. Unless you count the garage, in the cold cold winter. I have mixed feelings about bars..

I also understand banning it at storefronts, and office fronts..Looks bad smells bad.

i totally agree, i hardly ever smoke inside, never in a house, just beacuse i dont feel right doing it. also it does smell bad. i take everyone into consideration if i do light one up and make sure i dont get smoke in their area, regardless of if they ask or not. it is simply respectful of their rights and health.

now, if i go out of my way to smoke outside and away from ppl, then someone with a chip on their shoulder walks up and gets in my face about it, i feel as though they are disrespecting me and my rights. trust me, i know the risks and hate to have them preached to me over and over. personally i believe that there are more pressing issues then whether or not a person is smoking.

I just quit smoking, about 2 months ago- and now I feel as if they ought to baned totally, not just in public places. 26 years of addiction!
Quitting was much easier than I thought, it was only rough the first 3 days- If you smoke, may you have the will to quit! It is easier than you imagine. Have we been conditioned to believe otherwise? I was-

Originally posted by LostSailor
Also, most of the people that are so for banning smoking in these places, never even go to them.
[edit on 11-11-2004 by LostSailor]

Gee, I wonder if this could be because they don't want to be exposed to second-hand smoke. Perhaps more non-smokers would go to such places more if there was a smoking ban. To my knowledge there are more non-smokers than smokers in the world so that should logically only increase the market.


I smoked for 15 years before I quit 2 years ago. Was the best decision I ever made. Actually I woke up one day with Bell's Paresis(?). I lost motor function in the right half of my face. I thought of course it was because of the smoking, some blood clot in the brain or a stroke or something. Turns out it was just a virus infection to a facial nerve. I guess I was lucky that time. Still scared the crap out of me and I haven't smoked since.

One thing I've found during these 2 years. You who still smoke should really get to smell youselves.

No, they shouldn't...here in china we smoke in schools, hospitals, peoples homes and cars even if they don't smoke...is it impolite? no it's culture...

so if your country is trying to change the culture say NO WAY...that's for people to do...like that keep your hands of my body line...just say keep your hands of my culture.....

should we stop farting in public places too? hell I love to fart

You know how it goes. You're pinned inside a wrecked car, soaked in a pool of gasoline, or carrying an armload of blasting caps and dynamite, or you're in the middle of a lung transplant when someone nonchalantly says, "Mind if I smoke?"

How do you respond to a question asked under such circumstances? Words just don�t seem enough, so what can you do to make your point in a way that cannot be ignored or forgotten?

Don�t worry, I have it all figured out, and it�s the best idea ever!

So here's how to do it. Get a small cloth sack, preferably white and small enough to fit easily in a pocket.

Fill the sack halfway full with flour, then tie off the top. Using a Sharpie�, carefully write the word "Asbestos" on the outside of the sack in authoritative letters. If you're really into deep irony, write "Asbestos�" on it instead.

Be sure to label both sides of the bag in big letters, because the bag will be in motion once deployed, so it needs to be easy to read. Now you're ready to make your point. Carry this bag with you wherever you go, never leave it behind, lest you be caught off guard.

Then, when Smokey saunters up to the pile of dry brush, oil-soaked rags and dead logs you�re sitting on and asks �Mind if I smoke?�, you can just whip out your bag, hold it in his face, say �Mind if I shake?�, then start shaking flour all over him while making comments like, �Mmmm! There�s nothing like that smoooooth Asbestos� flavor!�

You would be amazed at how well this technique works. It has never failed!

Important Note: After 9/11, some people might get the wrong idea if you sprinkle a fine, white powder all over them. Obviously, it would be foolish to overlook how sensitive and potentially volatile such a misunderstanding would be, so in addition to commenting on the quality and flavor of the Asbestos you are shaking, be sure to occasionally yell, �Don�t worry! This isn�t anthrax, honest! Nope, it�s definitely not anthrax, so don�t go thinking it is, because you would be really, really wrong!� Doing this will allay the fears of even the most skittish and suspicious smoker, security guard or law enforcement official.


[edit on 11/12/2004 by Majic]

Originally posted by JSaulKane
According to ash.org.uk (published in 1999), smokers pay about �10.5 billion in VAT and duty in the UK, but according to NHS figures, only �1.7 billion is spent on tobacco related diseases. So if everyone (in the UK) gives up smoking how will the government continue to raise this sort of money?

I don't understand your money terms, but I understand your point.
It would really tickle my funny bone if all smokers could kick the habit.

The non-smokers would then have to come up with the BIG hole in the government budget.

I live in NH and for a couple of years when we had a democratic governor it wasn't even hidden that whenever the budget was short, whoops a new cigarette tax.

Now we have another democratic governor and in the pre election debate when ask about the budget ....guess what? Sure says he. " we will
have a new little cigarette tax to help the problem. Hello!

I quit smoking 5 months ago. I put up with what I used to call "harrassment". And I was always considerate. The same as most who have posted here.

Edited for missing word

[edit on 11/12/2004 by Mahree]

www.abovetopsecret.com...

If the studies on global warming doesn't link global warming to our use of fossil fuel, then I believe the studies on shs are even weaker.

And, well, I really do doubt the intentions of those studies, especially when the lawyers that all the legal battles very quickly went on to battle the junk food resturants and such.

And, well, have you looked at price of those cigarette cessation aids that are sold....boy, some big corporations are really cashing in on this one aren't they?
It's a very Big Business!!
And, well, if you trace the money, you will probably find that the researchers are funded by people are are cashing in...

-----------------------------
Majic, I just used the same argument that you did to refute global warming. If the results of that test isn't credible to you, why should the studies on second hand smoke? How in the world can anyone take in all the variables that might cause a medical problem....chemicals at home, chemicals at the workplace, chemicals added to their environment around their home, in their food, in their water.....and walk away saying that second hand smoke killed anyone? God, Kodak in Rochester increases the risk of those living closeby for pancreatic cancer...guess what...all those people are more prone to diabetes...so, are how feasable is it that the weeklly big macs and fries that they consumed really caused the problem.

Is this a pick your own poison thing or what?

If you are going to accept one, you should at least accept the other, since the integrety of the science is about equal.
Instead of scapegoating.

YES! For someone like me, and there are many. I am allergic to cigg. smoke (I use to smoke myself years and years ago and developed this about 12 years ago) when I get smoke near to where I can smell it as has happened many times out in public, my face swells and sinuses close up, I get a headache and feel like crap for a couple of days! I understand they have a right to smoke, but I have a right to go out in public without it being my face too!

I have a nephew who is very allergic to cigarette smoke, and know of others that will land up in the hospital room because of it....but, there are many other things out there that can have similar reactions to other things......like......perfumes, colonges, the scent in laundry detergents, the chlorine in water, not to mention the chemicals that many of these workplaces ask their employees to work with on a daily basis.. Heck, my son had bad respitory reactions to chlorine....the school made him take swimming classes in a chlorinated swimming pool! Now, they have found that hey, it does indeed cause damage very much similar to smoking!! They would have been better off, and probably have gotten much better support, if they had given an equal amount of credence to the studies that showed these other things are just as problematic, and came up with a list of the one most commonly found in public places and ban those!! And, well, they should start by banning pine products like pine sol from the danged hospitals!

Hey all, I just have to chime in to give the view of someone who suffered asthma as a child and now is raising a child afflicted with the same thing. Cig smoke, although a natural bronchial dialator, is very irritaing to those with this desease.

That being said, I live in a state where smoking is not yet banned and we go to restaurants that allow smoking. I have as yet had little problem as long as there are well ventilated sections for non-smokers separate from smokers.

I actually pity these people their habit as I'm sure they have now seen enough evidence to show them what it will do to them. So, my opinion is, this is something that doesn't need to be banned in public but should be an issue for the board of health who also inspect the other sanitary conditions of public places.

Small devices which measure the velocity and volume of air movement by an air handling system are very affordable and need to be part of the health code. That puts the ball in the court of the establishment owners to either make it all no smoking or comply with the proper ventilation. I think thats as it should be because the people who own and run these establishments now get a choice. There is always a compromise if we look.

Now, as for commercial garages, gas stations, or anywhere trapped gases or flamables may be present, for those dumb enough to want to light up, I guess we'll need a ban in place in that vicintiy. That should fall under the open flame rule anyway.

As for home smokers, I think it also becomes an issue for social services if heavy smoking is done in and un-ventilated area around children or disabled adults. I think we can all agree that if you care take for a child or invalid adult, smoking would and does endanger their health as most homes are not properly ventilated even with residential climate control.

It takes and exhaust fan capable of moving a substancial amount of air to move smoke out quickly. Again, social services should have a meter and threshhold set for this requirment. Meet it, and you can smoke in a part of the house the kids or sick people don't frequent, don't meet it and they are removed from your care. Again, we leave room for choice and options.

Hopfully, as more and more people begin to dissuade youngsters from smoking, we'll see the habit die out totally within the next 50 years but until then, the rights of everyone involved need to be considered.

astrocreep,

Don't pity me because I smoke.
After all..Being relegated to the back porch in the evening affords me much
more UFO observation time.

MY wife wants me to quit smoking as HER Christmas gift...Pretty inexpensive gift! I wonder what I can stop doing NEXT year?

Originally posted by spacedoubt
astrocreep,

Don't pity me because I smoke.
After all..Being relegated to the back porch in the evening affords me much
more UFO observation time.

MY wife wants me to quit smoking as HER Christmas gift...Pretty inexpensive gift! I wonder what I can stop doing NEXT year?

Well, if an evening smoke on the backporch is your only vice, I'd say you're in pretty good shape. Those I refer to are the ones who don't have a backporch nor a house to walk out of who smoke a case a day, one right after another, as hard as they can go who's only break from them is the time it takes to cash in enough food stamps to the local black market dealer to buy another pack or three.

Of course now, I here the food stamps are now a card which makes it harder to do. I think they have to actually buy the food, sell or trade it which takes more effort than actually getting a job and making the money to fuel their habit. I think most of us would be pityful of those.

I have occasionally enjoyed a cigar or two myself on the backporch. Now, that I work out more and need my lungs, I enjoy a cup of coffee instead....and sometimes a beer. No matter what excuse to step out on the evening after dinner one uses, the time is sure well spent.

Its an interesting delima ..her request for that present. It would be a lovely gesture if you're willing. If not, might I suggest a counter request by you for your present to be more "intimacy" . That , of course , from any married man will lead to the old, "oh thats okay, why don't you go have a smoke".

our country really cant ban it, were all for states rights here. although they did ban it in the capitol of my state, lincoln, and they are thinking banning it here in omaha. im not woried cause i dont smoke.

Ban smoking in confined places only, otherwise let it be.

If they start to ban smoking in public places with the excuse of second hand smoke then they'll have to ban cars as well. In this case, I think there would be acceptable legal challenges based on discrimination (ie why doesn't the governement ban cars as well type of argument).