Should People Be Allowed To Smoke In Public ?

MomTo3Lovez

Sadly enough, I think a lot of this comes down to attitude.
I noticed a couple cigar smokers on here who have advocated "smoking courtesy", which is MUCH appreciated. Unfortunately, I personally have never met a considerate smoker, including my former best friend. I think that fact probably leads to the people that someone referred to as "militant" non-smokers (which yes, can be a bit ridiculous in their own way as well, but...). It's a rock and a hard place. Those who do "will be damned if anyone is going to tell them they can't", and those who don't are determined to squelch those who do.
Yes, we can all get along, but we have to be grown-ups first, and therein lies the rub. I'm not a smoker, but I'd much rather see them have places of their own to gather seperately and enjoy each other than to have someone tell them they "absolutely can't" do something. No one comes to my home and puts a cigarette in my mouth, and I don't go to theirs and try to take it out. Yes, public is different, but again, there are many definitions to "public". So until we come up with a good way for everyone to communicate and compromise (yeah, umm, I'm not holding my breath, but...) hopefully the few people on both sides of the coin that actually try to be courteous to each other will give hope to all.

You probably won't "meet" a considerate smoker because they are trying to be off the beaten path so they can smoke in peace without bothering others.

Not all smokers have the "I don't care" attitude. Some smokers make an effort to go around a building, walk away from people, not light up next to someone if there's even a hint that it might bother another person. If they are smoking in an area that does have foot traffic, they try to move as far away as possible.

These are the smokers that you won't meet because they are trying to avoid you as much as you are trying to avoid them...and it's not to be rude, it's trying to be as respectful as possible.

This 100%, I am a smoker and I make sure not to light up around people that aren't smoking. i don't smake in my house or car because I have kids and smoking is my addiction not theirs so I keep it away from them.

TheLostMermaid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_packaging_warning_messages

Here's just a tid bit to sum that website up:

Smoking can kill
Smoking causes lung cancer
Protect children: do not let them breathe your smoke
Smoking can cause a slow and painful death
Smoking can slow blood flow and causes impotence(just in case you didn't know that already guys)
In case you didn't get that last line Smoking can cause your man parts to not work....super unattractive

There's literally pages and pages and pages and pages of the warnings and damages smoking can cause. Not just to yourself but others as well. Second hand smoke is just as bad.

Have you ever smoked inside of a care of room? And have seen it transform in color because of all the toxins in the smoke? Think about what it does to our world, our environment, THE CHILDREN.

JustinAnimal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_packaging_warning_messages

Here's just a tid bit to sum that website up:

Smoking can kill
Smoking causes lung cancer
Protect children: do not let them breathe your smoke
Smoking can cause a slow and painful death
Smoking can slow blood flow and causes impotence(just in case you didn't know that already guys)
In case you didn't get that last line Smoking can cause your man parts to not work....super unattractive

There's literally pages and pages and pages and pages of the warnings and damages smoking can cause. Not just to yourself but others as well. Second hand smoke is just as bad.

Have you ever smoked inside of a care of room? And have seen it transform in color because of all the toxins in the smoke? Think about what it does to our world, our environment, THE CHILDREN.

"WON'T SOMEBODY PUH-LEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!"
-that lady on the simpsons

TheLostMermaid

LOL its all I can think about when I come back to this topic!

cmpnaz

LOL its all I can think about when I come back to this topic!

Funny, because I think the same when at the market and I see all the moms pushing shopping carts of Soda and Junk food around with there 3 - 5 obese children in tow, all trying to beg for candy bars....
Or when I see the young mother with kids in the back seat going 60 on the freeway trying to text and drive ...

TheLostMermaid

LOL its all I can think about when I come back to this topic!

Funny, because I think the same when at the market and I see all the moms pushing shopping carts of Soda and Junk food around with there 3 - 5 obese children in tow, all trying to beg for candy bars....
Or when I see the young mother with kids in the back seat going 60 on the freeway trying to text and drive ...

They had a topic about that a few months ago. Whether or not obese children should be taken away from their parents.

And in my honest opinion they should. HA but apparently I feel like the government should be MORE involved because we are surrounded by ignorant people.

cmpnaz

My state already has regulations in place to curb public smoking. All restuarants, workplaces, business(public or private), and taverns are smoke free. I very much believe that public smoking should not be allowed except in specifically designated areas away from everyone else. Unlike other vices like drinking and drugs, smoking affects the people around the person smoking. An alcoholic and drug abuser is only(physically) hurting themselves but a smoker is harming everyone around them. You've never heard of second-hand liver cancer from being around an alcoholic but second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer in non-smokers. I had a co-worker who died due to lung cancer and didn't smoke a day in her life but had relatives that did.

Please tell the families that have lost someone to a drunk driver or drug related violence how those vices do not physically hurt anyone other than the alcoholic or drug abuser... I am pretty sure being hurt,disfigured or dead is being physically hurt.

for those worried about second hand smoke you may want to include some respirator masks in yours and your kids wardrobes.

Ignorance is Bliss and I see many Blissful people around here

zcb94

NOOOOOOO!!!
I'd rather my Children, my Grandchildren or anybody Else's children not have to be exposed to the smoke, just from walking on a public sidewalk! Thank You Very Much!

Not to mention children having to eat in the smokey sections of restaurants just because their parents don't want to quit and save their own lives.:huh: :noway::grumble: Their poor little lungs should never have to deal with that, even when their immune systems grow.

snowflake954

My state already has regulations in place to curb public smoking. All restuarants, workplaces, business(public or private), and taverns are smoke free. I very much believe that public smoking should not be allowed except in specifically designated areas away from everyone else. Unlike other vices like drinking and drugs, smoking affects the people around the person smoking. An alcoholic and drug abuser is only(physically) hurting themselves but a smoker is harming everyone around them. You've never heard of second-hand liver cancer from being around an alcoholic but second-hand smoke can cause lung cancer in non-smokers. I had a co-worker who died due to lung cancer and didn't smoke a day in her life but had relatives that did.

Please tell the families that have lost someone to a drunk driver or drug related violence how those vices do not physically hurt anyone other than the alcoholic or drug abuser... I am pretty sure being hurt,disfigured or dead is being physically hurt.

for those worried about second hand smoke you may want to include some respirator masks in yours and your kids wardrobes.

Ignorance is Bliss and I see many Blissful people around here

Obviously you don't remember (or care) about flying several years ago when airplanes had "non smoking sections" right in front of the smokers. Tell people again how they can just move when you're on a full international flight. It was hell. In a democracy the majority rules, and since smokers are the minority (for now at least) the laws are protecting those who have had to put up with second hand smoke for years. You guys talk about smog, but when measures are taken to lessen it, you don't have all these passionate people saying it's their right to produce smog. I can't agree with your arguments--sorry about your mom, but at least (since she didn't smoke), she won't have people telling her it was her own fault she got the disease---as happens with smokers. By the way, my dad died from emphysema (a horrible way to die) but he never smoked much. That doesn't mean I think smoking is healthy and "relaxing", it is however an addiction and not necessary to live---as eating is, another argument that doesn't compare. Just my opinion, of course, but this thread has some of the strangest arguments I've ever seen.

euronorris

Sorry to go off topic a little, but is it still legal to use your mobile phone and drive in the US??

desidieter

Sorry to go off topic a little, but is it still legal to use your mobile phone and drive in the US??

I think it depends on the state/city/county. Where I live, it's not. People do it anyway, and I honestly don't know if many of them get caught, but in theory, it's not allowed here.

runforestrun35

I feel people should be able to choose if they want to smoke or not... In designated areas, I just wish that being a runner with asthma that if you are a smoker and go to cheer on a friend or loved one at a race, please refrain from smoking during the race, you never know if you will cause an asthma attack.... Have had that happen...:-(

skinnyinnotime

Yes but in designated areas, same in bars and restaurants. I always sat in the smoking area to avoid people with their obnoxious kids so now we try to sit near the bar so they can't have the kids around. I'm sick of all this anti smoking crap, just another politically correct tool to crush personal freedom.

I'm sick of people that label all kids as obnoxious.

euronorris

Sorry to go off topic a little, but is it still legal to use your mobile phone and drive in the US??

I think it depends on the state/city/county. Where I live, it's not. People do it anyway, and I honestly don't know if many of them get caught, but in theory, it's not allowed here.

Thank you.

I just kinda assumed that it had been banned in the US, as it had here in the UK. It seems ludicrous that it hasn't. Doesn't mean that some people don't do it still, but at least it has been reduced drastically.

carinthea

Absolutely there are other fish to fry but this is what you responded to in the topic.

Yes drugs are outlawed. But people still get them. I highly doubt kids would smoke if they didn't already have them prepackaged and handed to them like candy. You don't see a lot of 14yrs old who can roll a zig zag.

I really think if they stopped making cigarettes that would solve the problem. Which has nothing to do with the government.

Yes, because abandoning production of an item that puritanical society disapproves of worked so well during prohibition. I am sick of being 'nanny-stated' by the government who think that they know what they are doing when in actual fact there are a heck of a lot of other problems out there they should be looking into (like the appalling state of our badly funded NHS and deplorable education system). You can choose not to smoke and not be around those that smoke but dictating to others is always a poor move when it comes to the freedom to choose that everyone has a right to.

Guess there is a good question to be had here; do you fancy paying more in taxes? If cigarettes, alcohol, fast-food and everything else bad for a person were banned then the general populace would be paying much higher taxes...

Oh, I am a non-smoker, have always been a non-smoker.

PatrickTrentin88

I am all for freedom and for the government staying out of your choices, but when the consequences of your choice are put on other people who didn't have any say in the matter then those people should be protected. You want to smoke fine. But everyone else around you shouldn't be forced to breathe in your smoke. You want to get drunk, fine but don't get in a car and potentially endanger other people's lives.

Edit: I should be clear that I am talking about public places. In your own home, friends house, etc it's the person's rules and if I want to be there I will suck it up and ignore it or say sorry I'd love to come to your party but can't stand the smoke. Businesses often have their employees to think of even if the patrons don't mind.

mine will be the nth +1 on your post, it seems

TheLostMermaid

Absolutely there are other fish to fry but this is what you responded to in the topic.

Yes drugs are outlawed. But people still get them. I highly doubt kids would smoke if they didn't already have them prepackaged and handed to them like candy. You don't see a lot of 14yrs old who can roll a zig zag.

I really think if they stopped making cigarettes that would solve the problem. Which has nothing to do with the government.

Yes, because abandoning production of an item that puritanical society disapproves of worked so well during prohibition. I am sick of being 'nanny-stated' by the government who think that they know what they are doing when in actual fact there are a heck of a lot of other problems out there they should be looking into (like the appalling state of our badly funded NHS and deplorable education system). You can choose not to smoke and not be around those that smoke but dictating to others is always a poor move when it comes to the freedom to choose that everyone has a right to.

Guess there is a good question to be had here; do you fancy paying more in taxes? If cigarettes, alcohol, fast-food and everything else bad for a person were banned then the general populace would be paying much higher taxes...

Oh, I am a non-smoker, have always been a non-smoker.

I date a smoker. And unfortunately for him he knows exactly how I feel.

And being in a state full of smokers its hard to "get away from". I literally get bombarded with smoke while sitting in traffic. Its disgusting. I can just get out of my car and walk away. Or going into a movie theater or restaurant. Why should I have to walk away or change MY life because someone else wants to kill themselves in public???


And I would absolutely agree to pay more if it meant not being subjected to that awful smell.

headofphat

Absolutely there are other fish to fry but this is what you responded to in the topic.

Yes drugs are outlawed. But people still get them. I highly doubt kids would smoke if they didn't already have them prepackaged and handed to them like candy. You don't see a lot of 14yrs old who can roll a zig zag.

I really think if they stopped making cigarettes that would solve the problem. Which has nothing to do with the government.

Yes, because abandoning production of an item that puritanical society disapproves of worked so well during prohibition. I am sick of being 'nanny-stated' by the government who think that they know what they are doing when in actual fact there are a heck of a lot of other problems out there they should be looking into (like the appalling state of our badly funded NHS and deplorable education system). You can choose not to smoke and not be around those that smoke but dictating to others is always a poor move when it comes to the freedom to choose that everyone has a right to.

Guess there is a good question to be had here; do you fancy paying more in taxes? If cigarettes, alcohol, fast-food and everything else bad for a person were banned then the general populace would be paying much higher taxes...

Oh, I am a non-smoker, have always been a non-smoker.

I date a smoker. And unfortunately for him he knows exactly how I feel.

And being in a state full of smokers its hard to "get away from". I literally get bombarded with smoke while sitting in traffic. Its disgusting. I can just get out of my car and walk away. Or going into a movie theater or restaurant. Why should I have to walk away or change MY life because someone else wants to kill themselves in public???


And I would absolutely agree to pay more if it meant not being subjected to that awful smell.

So your man's parts don't work? That sucks.

DenDweller

It'd probably be more humane to put 'em out before it gets that far...

Tigg_er

I live in what USED to be a free nation. If I am outside in public I will do what I want. If someone doesn't like it, then they can move to another area and exercise their right to choose NOT to smoke. Call me a "jerk" but Someones right to NOT do something does not trump my right TO do something....I don't blow smoke at people, but If they are concerned that my cigarette smoke is going to harm them, then they should remove themselves from my presence.

Yeah...Yeah.....smoking is bad for you, but so are big mac's, donuts and soda....people still do it.

^ Right here ! I will not force my issue on some one and am considerate when I smoke. But I will also not have other peoples issued forced on me.