Why does MN hate smokers so much?

[PalmTreesPurple]

Not all of MN of course but I’ve seen a lot of negativity about it. I understand not liking smoking yourself because of the health issues, I’m a smoker after giving up for nearly a year and I was stupid to start again but it’s a nasty addiction to kick. I only smoke outside, in designated smoking areas, and never around people who are eating/close to other people. I also don’t smoke in places like parks or walking through town. It is either in my garden or in a designated spot. Would a smoker like that bother you, or is it people who don’t have any courtesy, or do you just not like smokers in general?

Not being aggressive at all, just very interested.

Would also like to know if anyone on here smokes themselves?

The second I see a fag in someones hand they automatically seem vile to me. I cant help it and I dont know what it is, but as soon as I know someone smokes I disassociate myself from them. I could never get close to a smoker. Even if theyve given up, I cant warm to them, it's like they are infected.

I'm asthmatic and it makes me cough when I walk past someone smoking, it also stinks.

It's a monumentally selfish, self-absorbed thing to do. Both on the level of health - most smokers have family/friends/responsibilities and are knowingly significantly increasing their risk of dying prematurely or developing a condition that requires others to care for them and take on their responsibilities, as well as depriving the family budget of significant amounts of money - and on that of risk and unpleasantness to others. PPs have noted that smokers aren't aware of quite how much it stinks. IME they are also unaware of quite how far it travels. Even with you standing at the end of your garden, smoke is still going to get on your neighbours' laundry, in their windows, in their air. They may just be being polite or not feel able to say they can smell it, or are maybe inured to it from living/socialising with other smokers. But I guarantee that if you were my neighbour it would bother me big time.

Then cigarette butts. People who would never throw their crisp packets/coffee cups on the ground seem to feel entirely justified in treating their outdoor surroundings as a massive ashtray. Why?

What everyone else has said upthread...also, when I'm changing my class books in school, I can tell instantly where children live in a smoking household 🤢 Their book bag stinks...and everything inside it stinks 😷 Thjs means that I'm having to breathe in this disgusting stench as I'm changing the books, handle the stinking books and then put them out somewhere to 'air' for several days, because I can't let them contaminate a whole basket of books!

I honestly don't think smokers realise how bad the smell is and how much it clings onto things. I can smell it on children's hair and clothes when I'm sitting next to them reading or supporting them, and on PE kits too as they are being pulled out of kit bags. It's so strong.

I don't smoke. What you do wouldn't bother me at all, although I would want you to wash your hands properly before holding my baby (should you want to ).

I'm very anti smoking when it's around other people. It's unsociable and it stinks. The smell lingers for ages.

It seems that way sometimes @vodkaredbullgirl. I also don’t think calling us stupid/common/unintelligent is very fair. I am in a job that requires both a degree and multiple qualifications alongside it and it’s upsetting to think doing something which is admittedly a ‘filthy habit’ makes people think we lack intellect. I think many seem to think we are unaware of the dangers, but I know that I, and many others are not. I’ve been an on/off smoker for years, and re-start every time I am having episodes of high stress or bad mental health. I don’t drink at all, smoking is my outlet during these times.

I think it’s sad that people associate smoking with intelligence it’s probably because why on earth would you smoke when it’s so obviously bad for you. There are no benefits to smoking but hundreds of disadvantages.

It’s also a drain on NHS resources. You smoke for 40 years and then want the NHS to treat your cancers and COPD and waste donor lungs on you.

I don’t know anyone who smokes but I’ve been near smokers in beer garden recently and the smell is a bit grim. I think it looks common too, but I don’t suppose they care. And it’s wasteful, but they can obviously spend their hard-earned income on what they want.

It's not particular to MN. The population in general has a problem with smokers. Especially the ones who claim they don't smell when they actually do. It also causes resentment at work when people are constant going out for cigarette breaks.

Smokers had the monopoly on making people and places smell for many years, so now we really shouldn't have to put up with it any more, especially now that smokers are are in such a minority. I also hate flavoured vapes because they smell sickly and revolting. I don't think all these vape shops should've been allowed. The whole thing needs to be phased out entirely.

I think 'less intelligent' is a bit harsh (and probably inaccurate), but I do think of smokers as lacking in self-respect (and in respect for others if they do it around non-smokers, which almost all of them do. The smoke doesn't magically disappear when you smoke outside. People still have to walk through it/have it going into their windows/sit in it).

Because Mumsnetters are usually a bit up themselves.

I hate it because it's something forced on me in the street if someone is smoking in front/to the side. It stinks up my hair, my clothes. My neighbours who smoke, passing people who smoke, regular person in the street who smoke, just chuck their fucking butt ends in our driveway/the road/the street/the pavement. It's a completely nuisance habit that serves no purpose for anyone else bar the selfish person who is smoking.

@PalmTreesPurple I think it’s sad that people associate smoking with intelligence well you do have to be pretty fucking stupid to see a packet of cigarettes with a shrivelled, blackened pair of lungs on the front and go "yeah, that's what I'll spend my hard earned cash on!"

IQ doesnt measure common sense.

OP addiction is really complex, it's not a case of addicts being just bad people or stupid people or anything like that. I found the NHS stop smoking service really helpful and knowledgeable, they might be able to help you 👍🏻

We are aware of what we are doing, i really don't care what people on here think.

I wouldn’t say I hate smokers but it would make me think slightly less of you - sorry OP. Doesn’t matter how considerate you are of others or even if you managed to disguise the stink on your clothes or your breath. It’s a sort of weak character flaw or something I think.

Because smokers are selfish. They force everyone around them to breathe in their cancer sticks and are willing to cause harm to others.

@anon5000

Because Mumsnetters are usually a bit up themselves.

Why is it 'up oneself' to not want to have to breathe in clouds of stinking, carcinogenic smoke, to not want to smell of it after having been out for a pint/walked down the high street, to not want one's laundry to smell of the neighbours' smoke from their garden? Genuine question.

Because it stinks. Like honestly reeks. If somebody who has just put one out comes into your house, your house stinks. If some selfish idiot smokes in front of you on the way to work, the smoke blows back onto you and your clothes & hair stink. Fag ends all over the pavement.

Its just incredibly anti social and selfish, and makes everything smell and feel dirty.

Thanks @Hangingover. I’ve actually been referred to it by my doctor after explaining that I want to give up. I agree perhaps with the self-respect thing. But mainly because I usually smoke when my mental health is in a bad place and I, at the time, think more about the stress it relieves than the long-term health impact even though I am well aware and do feel guilty about it. This thread has definitely pushed me to go and do something about it.

It makes me sad rather than anything. Watched someone I loved die slowly of a smoking related disease and it hurts that I can't convince other people I love to give up too. Some of my dislike of smoking comes from the powerlessness of not being able to stop someone you care about harm themselves. Other times, it's just because I don't like it in my daughters face when we walk somewhere!

Because it’s vile.

You smell. Even when you think you don’t, you do.

Disgusting filthy fingernails, yellow teeth, gross breath. 🤮

It’s selfish by its nature so no matter how “considerate” you think you are, you’re not.

It’s anti-social. It puts unnecessary pressure on health systems (yes other things do, too).

And it’s completely chavvy though that might not necessarily be a bad thing depending on what type of person you are.

I could never get close to a smoker. Even if theyve given up, I cant warm to them, it's like they are infected

How would you even know? Do you hand out those questionnaires like at the GP to new acquaintances?

@PalmTreesPurple

Thanks *@Hangingover*. I’ve actually been referred to it by my doctor after explaining that I want to give up. I agree perhaps with the self-respect thing. But mainly because I usually smoke when my mental health is in a bad place and I, at the time, think more about the stress it relieves than the long-term health impact even though I am well aware and do feel guilty about it. This thread has definitely pushed me to go and do something about it.

Why do you care what a bunch of randoms on MN of all places think?

This thread has been very enlightening. I hope it didn’t come across as defensive or argumentative. I was just genuinely intrigued as to what people thought after seeing another thread about smoking. Even though it wasn’t the intention (I was smoking when I wrote it), it’s made me realise that I do need to stop. I did it before and I can do it again. I only picked it up again during a period of high stress, which I know sounds like a weak excuse, but I did find it helpful. I plan on having my last cigarette this evening. Hopefully I’ll be back in a few weeks to tell you I’ve managed to continue smoke-free. Who knows.