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?

A colleague used to run the "we fund the NHS" line. Even when I was with him as he purchased illegally imported cigarettes from dodgy guys in the pub.

I grew up with parents who smoked maybe 70-80 a day between them (in the house, even in the bedrooms) and so when i started smoking in my teens it seemed totally normal. I'm 50 now and after trying patches,the NHS, sprays, gums, hypnotherapy etc, it's only in the past 18 months that I've been able to stop entirely by vaping instead. Not the ideal solution, but I don't stink, it's considerably cheaper, and I've gradually been able to reduce both my usage and the nicotine content, so much so that it's more of a comfort blanket now - I very rarely need it but it's an option if I do. Perhaps give it a try? Nb I hate all those flavoured ones that billow out clouds of sickly smelling steam, would give them a wide berth.

Trixie...great post 😊

£9.2 bn p.a. in tax from smokers, less drain on nhs in their later years due to shorter life span. Whether or not I agree with smoking, that's a ton of money.

I also think people are excessively vitriolic towards smokers. I was shocked at certain attitudes after the smoking ban e.g. suddenly non-smokers who happily sat inside pubs - had always opted to sit inside, rather than a beer garden where the smell and risk would surely be better - suddenly went apeshit at the smell of a cigarette in the street straight after the smoking ban! Did all these people decontaminate their handbags after going to a smoking restaurant in days gone by? Did they throw their shoes away after going to a club? Did they decontaminate all their school papers for marking after stopping for a drink at the pub after teaching?! It's the OTT reaction that astounds me.

Any addiction - legal or otherwise impacts society in some way - costs to nhs, social services, violence, robbery etc - but it does seem some people see smokers as an easy target. Often the same people who preach good manners are rude as hell to smokers.

I'm friends with smokers and non-smokers, but would not choose to be friends with someone who is loudly rude to smokers as they would do my head in - in the same way I wouldn't be friends with someone who was rude to a homeless person with an addiction, or who bullied someone for being fat etc. If I have to walk past someone smoking a fag for a second, I'll get over it, just as I'll get over the smell and smoke of crossing a busy road!

Where do people expect smokers to go?! Many less lethal drugs are banned outright - the government have 9.2 bn reasons not to ban smoking.

@DolphinandDuck

"Do you seriously change your entire view of people if you've already formed relationships with them and only discover this later on?" Yes. Once I've found out they used to smoke, that's it, they disgust me. As I've said, it's like they are infected.

I think that's the most bizarrely intolerant thing I've read in years. And the fact that you're apparently a teacher is even more worrying.

Apologies. I've read a bit further on and discovered that you aren't a teacher. Thank fuck for that.

In truth, I judge smokers who do not quit.

If a smoker doesn't want to quit they don't have to. Who are you to think that they should? I can't believe the level of intolerance on MN. If someone wants to smoke that is their decision, and they don't have to justify it to anyone else.

That's what I feel, pure revulsion.

And that's what I feel every time I read one of your posts @DolphinandDuck

@eaglejulesk

In truth, I judge smokers who do not quit.

If a smoker doesn't want to quit they don't have to. Who are you to think that they should? I can't believe the level of intolerance on MN. If someone wants to smoke that is their decision, and they don't have to justify it to anyone else.

Indeed it is their decision. But they shouldn’t inflict themselves and their vile habit on others.

Do you have the same attitude towards drinking alcohol?

Yes if they are addicted.

And like a PP - I don’t like the smell of cigarettes but it pales in comparison with the stench of tinned tuna.

You probably do.

Out of interest why do you carry on smoking? @trixiebelden77 as a dr knowing the risks?

@summerfruitsrainbow

Well if smokers are selfish then so are fat people

They stuff their faces until their waist is huge. Sponge off the NHS for diabetic treatment etc. Or gastric bands. They take up more than their fair share of space on bus seats etc.

No worse than smokers!

And drinkers to that point!

Do you actually realise how ridiculous this post is? I can’t even.

Do you actually realise how ridiculous this post is? I can’t even

You can't even what?

Why do people say that, finish the ruddy sentence!

23:06summerfruitsrainbow

"Well if smokers are selfish then so are fat people

They stuff their faces until their waist is huge. Sponge off the NHS for diabetic treatment etc. Or gastric bands. They take up more than their fair share of space on bus seats etc.

No worse than smokers!

And drinkers to that point!"

I love this sort of thing. I wonder if people who say this think all fat people and drinkers are non smokers?

I grew up with smoking parents.

My Dad (pipe smoker) is now diagnosed with COPD and a heart condition. He is 86 now and, to be fair to him, gave up about a year ago.

My mother, by contrast, still chain smokes cigarettes despite a serious episode of pneumonia recently that had her in hospital for several days. She is 85 now and has smoked like that since her late teens, without the will or the inclination to stop.

I love my parents. I don't love the smoke or the fact that I emerge from every visit to their house smelling like an ashtray. Both are now too frail and immobile. They need a lot of care and attention. I cannot simply say that I will not go in there because of their age and medical issues, and nor would I. It would be much easier without the cigarette issue though.

If you can give up and keep to it then I would strongly urge you to try again.

I don’t hate smokers and I don’t even really mind the smell of fresh smoke. It’s that nasty stale smoke smell that permeates the bodies and clothes of heavy smokers that I find disgusting.

I will admit I have an overactive sense of smell (I can often tell what someone had had for lunch or when clothes in a store have been tried on by someone recently)

So while I don’t hate smokers I also do not want to sit near or have a face to face conversation with a heavy smoker and will actively avoid and exclude them when possible. You can still smell it on people who only smoke occasionally but it’s tolerable.

@popcornandwine "I work with people with lung cancer and I know that the exact judgemental attitudes on display in this thread contribute to lung cancer being diagnosed at later stages as people don't present to their GPs with symptoms like persistent coughs, because they expect to be told that they smoked/used to smoke so what do they expect? This in turn leads to higher mortality rates."

That's awful. Well done to your hubby.

Smokers in general (though not all) are some of the most selfish, ignorant and arrogant people alive

@Angrywife out of curiosity, in your view, does that mean that if a smoker gives up, they retain those characteristics or do they instantly get a personality transplant?

Smokers in general (though not all) are some of the most selfish, ignorant and arrogant people alive

Wow! You have a very apt username @Angrywife by the way. I have known a lot of smokers in my life - I wouldn't say that about any of them. It is possible to be selfish, ignorant and arrogant without being a smoker by the way - just read a few threads on MN!

You could say it's the complete opposite of selfish.

Contribute billions to the tax revenue and (generally) die younger so saving on pensions and social care costs.

@SheepandCow

You could say it's the complete opposite of selfish.

Contribute billions to the tax revenue and (generally) die younger so saving on pensions and social care costs.

Or you could say the pain they caused their families was incredibly selfish. You could say choosing cigarettes over basics for your children was incredibly selfish. You could say they tended to be more unwell and more in need of social care and had more admissions to hospitals despite having generally shorter lives. You could say they we’re twice as likely to be unemployed and dependent on benefits. You could say it was selfish to dump a smoking habit on your children.

Most importantly perhaps is the selfishness of selling the myth that smokers and tobacco industry contribute positively to the costs of society. They don’t. It’s tosh. Smoking costs this country dearly and that is not recouped through taxation.

ash.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Economics-of-Tobacco.pdf

@SheepandCow

You could say it's the complete opposite of selfish.

Contribute billions to the tax revenue and (generally) die younger so saving on pensions and social care costs.

If they're that unselfish, they could contribute the billions without also polluting the atmosphere and making themselves stink. But, let's face it, they're not smoking because they're altruistic saints, are they?

I hate smoking. My ndn go in their garden to do it so the smell permeates throughout my garden and in through my living room windows if they’re open.
So many smokers don’t give a shit about the environment and think it’s ok to throw their ends on the ground whether walking down the street or out of their car windows.
Plus having to speak to someone within half an hour of them smoking can be rank. They have no idea of just how god awful their breath gets (not envy)

Smokers are inherently selfish in that they think it's ok to litter