to think that people have the right to smoke without being villified as if they were using cocaine?

[stitch]

i'm a non smoker. make that a never smoker, apart form one incident when i was 13 and had a huge coughing fit.
i am really really shocked at how people are reacting towards people smoking. it is not the worst thing in the world, and i just feel really uncomfortable athow they are making smokers out to be pariahs.

When people say, "I'm addicted"

To what? Whining? Being incredibly stupid? Or smelling unpleasant?

as i said before i'm a non-smoker but i can't for the life of me understand how someone can complain about smokers in bars stinking up the place and then also complain about them being outside when it is sunny. what are they supposed to do?not go out?
in fairness i see nothing wrong with either vice mentioned in the thread title (the only reason cocaine causes so much heartache compared to other legal vices is because it is illegal and not vice versa)
sure cocaine makes some people act like an asshole but so does many things like alcohol/success/presure/some people are just assholes. and as long as smokers act with some mild consideration and don't blow it in others faces what's the harm?

Raven - no thanks. Like I said before, Alan Carr, or any other stop smoking program or NRT will only work if you want to stop, and I have no current desire to do so.
Thanks though.

DSM you miss the point. They do put the brollies down sometimes, but it's a very large pub with a very large beer garden, and smoke hangs low in the air, especially on a warm day. Never mind.
I remember when people used to smoke on trains, in hospitals, on the bus and I'm so glad we are not there now.

Hunker - I am not stupid and do not appreciate being called so.

If you have children, whether you smoke near them or not, it affects them.

Yes in particles of smoke, etc.

But also in terms of "every cigarette you smoke kills a bit more of you and you are very likely to have a shorter, less healthy life to spend with your children".

That, and that alone, would make me stop.

Is smoking clever, DSM?

Message withdrawn

In a very large pub with a very large beer garden you would expect the smoke to pass even faster, wouldn't you?

Not much they can do really, if the smoke 'hangs' in the air? Oh well.

Well quattro - it doesnt end at the point they stub out the cigarette. They trudge back in, and plonk themselves down at their desk next to yours, positively reeking of smoke and that even worse 'wet ashtray' type smell, and make you gag. The air conditioning doesnt expel it - it's impregnated in their hair, their clothes and their skin and it lingers, mercilessly.

And, it might come as a surprise to a few, that the smoke lingers in your lungs for up to half an hour after you've stopped smoking the cigarette. So, not quite as simple as that I'm afraid.

gah!

I'm only being so irritatingly persistent about this because I loved smoking & never thought I'd want to stop. Nor did I think Allen Carr would work for me - BIL bought the book for me & I only read it to be polite.

I shall butt, as it were, out.

I loved smoking too, bloody loved it. I was most excellent at it too - could blow smoke rings through smoke rings like a show-off dragon, etc.

Would still do it if I had the money and there were no health risks involved and it didn't stink.

No. Nor is it stupid.

oh god yes pruners. Not to mention the proliferation of cigarette butts on floors. OH, and if you have the joy of walking behind a smoker who flicks their cigarette and ash ends up blowing all over you. Nice.

I will say this as simply as I can.

I smoke only when I am either
a) alone in my garden
b) in the smoking area of a bar/club/work

Therefore, I am either surrounded by other smokers (so second had smoke means nothing there) or noone.

Message withdrawn

Why?

Like Bill Hicks said, non-smokers die every day.

It is a personal choice and of course it is better for your health not to smoke, but it's not the worst thing in the world.
I wish there was this amount of passion over teenage stabbings, pollution, or myriad social problems.

DSM, it's not clever and it's not stupid?

So what is it?

Just "meh"?

If you smoke, you are willingly killing yourself. You can argue your right to do so, you can be as considerate about it as you like, but you cannot argue that it's not stupid. Because it is.

Spanky, I don't think there's anyone on this thread who feels dispassionate about teenage stabbings.

But this thread is about smoking.

Thanks for the heads-up on Other Things We Should Care About though - very helpful.

Does it matter if you think it's stupid or not?
It exists

As I said, on the pulse.

ROFL-What a joker!

Message withdrawn