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.

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THW, I am supportive of those who want to stop. Sometimes.

Wow is everyone here drunk or just nasty in general?
Can you all take a step back and look at whats being said theres some very nasty arguing going on and its supposed to be a discussion not a fight.

"However, I would never tell someone not to do something because it irritates me. I am not that self-centred".

But it isn't just irritating, is it?
It's dangerous, and could harm your unborn child, so why wouldn't you politely ask someone to desist from smoking around you when you are pregnant?

That's not self-centred - it's being a responsible parent, imo.

DSM, do you think smoking outside means it doesn't smell?

I wasn't saying you shouldn't be spending your own money on fags, btw - merely that if I was to set fire to £70 a week of my own money now, I would consider that a bit of a dim thing to do - for me.

First of all - can we please stop slurring insults, there is no need and it totally belittles the discussion.

None of us here are stupid, so let that be the last time the word is used here.

Of course it smells outdoors. But it is nowhere near as harmful.

Smokers have the right to smoke, non-smokers have the right not to.
Smokers respect non-smokers rights by smoking outdoors. Can non-smokers not show the same respect back and give them the space to do so?

I'm neither drunk nor nasty.

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The thing is, if you're not a smoker, then passive smoking is not actually the greatest threat to your health, or your DCs health. You're at risk of being killed by a car or a family member (highest cause of un-natural death being road accidents, most murders being committed by family members of the disease. CIgarette smoke isn't very nice, but it's just a minor irritation when you are outdoors, walking past a smoker. It's not nuclear waste. Get over yourselves.

TW - if someone was smoking right beside me when I was pregnant, I would move rather than ask them to stop. I am not an irresponsible parent, but I also do not think I am the centre of the world.

I'm getting a bit tired of trying to help you visualise the scene, but here goes.. the large, very nice gastro-pub has created an indoor-outdoor bar area from their beer garden, so, as far as can be ascertained, their smoking customers can sit outside fagging it.
SO many people now smoke out there, and cigarette smoke is heavier than air, it lingers, it forms a smog, in the beer garden. It is like sitting in smokers pub, but outside. NOT PLEASANT. Not healthy.

Jeez now i feel stupid, smelly, evil and low just by reading this thread. Thanks thats really helped me cut down now i just want to light up.

Just a thought but... sit inside?

Smoking was banned inside and not outside for a reason.

"Smokers have the right to smoke, non-smokers have the right not to".

Non-smokers lose their right not to smoke if smokers smoke near them, though.

I don't actually mind if smokers are outside, away from me and my children.

It's when we have to walk through plumes of smoke that I get frustrated.

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I cant smoke indoors, i cant smoke outdoors, i cant smoke in doorways, i can smoke in a back garden. Where exactly am i supposed to smoke then if the non-smokers had there way?

I don't have particularly strong feelings about smoking outside. It's gross of course, but I can move.

I am interested in how clearly intelligent people rationalise not attempting to give up smoking. I know it's addictive, and I suspect it is bravado in the face of the difficulty of actually stopping

But perhaps there are other reasons?

There is no compramise whatsoever in non-smokers you want it gone everywhere and for no one to smoke anywhere. Imo that is the selfish bit. There are smokers its a fact you have to deal with but you cant expect never to have to see or hear of it again.

Should tobacco be illegal?

I'm mildly drunk but - I hope! - not nasty.

Five years ago I'd've posted exactly as you're doing DSM. But there does come a point when you look round & suddenly, you're about the only person you know who smokes. & all your mates have to put up with your stink, when you come back from considerately smoking outside.

Also it doesn't have to be a revolving door of give up/smoke/give up/smoke. You can just give up & stick with it - I think it took me about a year of not smoking before I lost the nostalgia!