Smokers – selfish scum or persecuted minority?

pattyproulx

Smoking is repulsive and it kills. The people saying second hand smoke is harmless are kidding themselves, it's disgusting that it is still legal to sell tobacco. I appreciate the fact that it is an addiction but I just feel so sad for people who lose family members needlessly. The only people I would call selfish scum though are the people who throw their butts on the ground. THERE IS NO EXCUSE.

If you find it repulsive dont do it. Its not just people saying that second hand smoke is harmless, its the countless studies that have been done. A lot of things are disgusting. Should we ban them all? A lot of things are harmful, should we ban them all? We should ban every thing that is harmful to our health?

Ooh yeah sure.. let's go back to how our ancestors lived with just the earth and the animals...
"Don't do it"
Unless you, yourself, have been addicted I don't think you can necessarily talk.. it's not that easy

It's actually REALLY easy to not get addicted to cigarettes, actually just as easy as not getting addicted to meth or heroin. Don't do it in the first place. Common sense isn't very common these days.

I don't smoke and never have. Would also never date someone who did.

With that said, your comments have been incredibly ignorant. Everyone has lived under different circumstances. Many people have lived around smokers their entire lives (parents) and many haven't had the education about smoking that many of us have. Some people have friends who've peer-pressured them while they were young and easily influenced.

It doesn't take a genius to see why someone would 'try' smoking and could potentially get addicted.

You never have, I never have. Good for us. But get off your high horse and realize that many people aren't as fortunate.

janlee_001

Neither - they are addicted. Nicotine is one of the most hard addictions to break.

Gotspunk1

I quit smoking over a year ago after smoking for more than 15 years. Here I sit at my desk logging my breakfast on MFP and perusing the boards, before I get back to studying for my final in a few minutes. I'm stressed out enough with this test coming up, but more stressed AND distracted constantly because I have to smell smoke coming through the cracks around the doorway from the closet right next to my computer....because my neighbors sit on the stairs over it and smoke constantly. It also comes in around the front door and any and every time I open a window to let in some fresh air. When I walk outside to go check the mail, or walk up to the park, or take out the trash, or even just grab something from my car, I have to walk through cigarette smoke because of people outside smoking. I'm fed up with the whole nonsense. I'm moving to the country, and that's that! I deserve the right to have clean air in my own home, and not have to walk outside and inhale smoke instead of fresh air. Not only that, but when I'm in morning school drop off traffic, there's a group of nurses from the vocational center that stand on the street corner off of school property where we are all backed up in traffic, smoking away, while their smoke comes into all of our cars...while we have to sit there... And then there's driving down the street when people are in their cars smoking and it wafts into my window constantly...especially if I get behind someone smoking! All this aside, I do believe people should be able to have the right to smoke if they want, but seriously, it makes it really difficult for people trying to quit, or have already quit, and it's not good for us to be inhaling the smoke of others. I mean, I'm really glad that my neighbor spares his kids and his wife(who quit smoking) and goes outside to smoke right by my front door so my daughter and I can have to smell/inhale it! ARGHHHHHHH

moosegt35

I think its annoying that non smokers seem to think its ok to lecture smokers.

Hers the thing, I'm an adult, its my body and I'll do it if I want. If I get cancer I will not blame anyone else.

I don;t go into McDonalds poking fat people telling them they are killing themselves.

Smoke all you want, just don't make me do it.

AnnaMC1977

Selfish scum. I don't like constantly being exposed to the smoke from my fiance. If I want to avoid it, I have to leave the room. He hotboxes me in the bathroom in the mornings, and when we go somewhere, he has to smoke before we go, smoke a cig when we get there, smokes while we're there (festivals), and smokes on the way home. When we first started dating, his first question to me was "do you smoke? because i hate smokers"...well he is one of THEM now. On top of the cigs, he dips as well. Can we say it together now? EEEEWWWW!

yoovie

Last night I was sharing a cigarette with a friend and this very very very overweight woman about 27 years old or so- stopped in front of me and sneered and said- smoking is disgusting!!

(she said this to me, not the guy friend I was getting a drag from).

So I let her know that being fat and judgmental is also ugly.

yoovie

I am going through this thread and I am not sure it's been brought up but, in my experience, smokers tend to litter. A LOT. In that respect, I would say they are selfish scum.

Not all. I will go out of my way to find an ashtray or trashcan or put a butt in my pocket before throwing it on the ground. I've seen plenty of non-smoking people that litter, so that is a pretty generalized stereotype. :flowerforyou:

Yeah There's a trash can every 30 feet in NYC - we dont really litter butts here - in fact we're kind of anal about not littering and always recycling.

CatherineElizabeth13

I have to say I find this post really sad.
I am a smoker, I dont smoke inside my house or around children, but i will stand outside my door and do it.

I study Law at University, and they forever talk about people 'RIGHTS'
But it seems the only rights that matter of those of the idiots.. yes IDIOTS.. who want to ban EVERYTHING.
Gun crime increased by 1% - LETS BAN ALL TOY ARISOFTING GUNS!.. logical -.-

Surely your right to NOT smoke is equal to my right TO smoke.
You don't have the divine right to rank above me because I choose to exercise my freedom of choice.

I wish the world would quit whining.
There are worse things than a bit of smoke in the air.
Go live in Singapore if it really bothers you.

AnnaMC1977

Nationwide ban? Nawww..the gov makes too much $$ killing people with the cigs.

moosegt35

Persecuted minority!!! I haven't smoked in 15 years but come on, give the smokers a break, if you you don't like it stay home!!

So others rights should be trampled on so that smokers have their rights. Perfect logic.

moosegt35

I smoke and I think that restraunts and especially bars should be allowed to choose whether or not to allow smoking. And going to the American Cancer Society for info on Second hand smoking is like going to R.J. Renolds for information on second hand smoking. IT'S BIASED!!! DO your own research looking up American Journal of Medicine and you'll see that 20 min-60 min of second hand smoking doesn't effect you except while you're in the smoke. 15min after you leave the smoke your body is back to normal. What I'm sick of it going to casino's where smoking is alllowed everywhere, that have nonsmoking sectioning, and getting dirty looks, or over exagerated coughing when I light up. When I'm in the casino non-smokers are in the minority and they can't stand it. Anymore that's were I prefer to go, great food, good drinks, and I can have a couple of cigarettes freely. But if i see a nonsmoker I usually ask if it's okay for me to smoke. It they say they prefer I not i use an E-cig that glos blue at the tip and lets out water vapor. I try to be considerate but sometimes when I'm in a smoking establishment I just don't care because the non-smokers choose to come come here knowing that there is a chance that evreyone will be smoking.

You took away our bars, where children shouldn't be, and the majority of people smoked, you took away the owner's choice of small restraunts and bars. This isn't a dictatorship but it's begining to feel like one. How many people die from getting hit by drunk drivers? Maybe focus more on the that instead of the 'nuisance' of tobacco smoke.

Drunk driving has been illegal for YEARS. Can't believe you didn't know that.

tashjs21

Quoted wrong post. :grumble:

tashjs21

Last night I was sharing a cigarette with a friend and this very very very overweight woman about 27 years old or so- stopped in front of me and sneered and said- smoking is disgusting!!

(she said this to me, not the guy friend I was getting a drag from).

So I let her know that being fat and judgmental is also ugly.

1546mel

ex-smoker here, 13 years smoked, 2 years clean this Thanksgiving

That being said and that i do not support smoking as a healthy habit, living in Michigan, i think that the antismoking is a form of discrimination. There are even swabs being done for employment to make sure you do not smoke. Wrong, discriminatory, and none of the publics business. If you choose to smoke, it is your choice. it is not a healthy choice, but neither is fast food, alcohol or other choices michigan now allows, explain that to me! While i agree that smoking should not be in resturants or bars to a degree, outside smoking is their own right, jsut keep it away from the doors so i dont have to walk through a cloud of smoke please! I have had enough!

tashjs21

I am going through this thread and I am not sure it's been brought up but, in my experience, smokers tend to litter. A LOT. In that respect, I would say they are selfish scum.

Not all. I will go out of my way to find an ashtray or trashcan or put a butt in my pocket before throwing it on the ground. I've seen plenty of non-smoking people that litter, so that is a pretty generalized stereotype. :flowerforyou:

I understand that, but around here there are a lot of cigarette butts everywhere. As well, a lot of my smoker friends walk out of convenience stores and unwrap their smokes and toss it on the ground.

Like I said, in my experience.

Sounds like you just know some rude incosiderate people.

Is it just cigarette butts that litter your town or is their a lot of trash in general? Sounds like it is more a littering problem than a smoker problem.

MisterGoodBar

both but mostly Selfish (not scum)

moosegt35

What about all the people that drive drunk and kill innocent people that are just driving home? Why don't people focus on that? It costs a lot more to care for a coma victim and put a drunk in jail and care for him for 25-life, than to for insuarnce to pay 50% of an inhaler. I've never smoked a pack and felt like I was "too buzzed" to drive. So I kill myself smoking, I don't smoking arounf children, I ask people if they mind if I smoke so the only person I'm hurting is myself. So everyone can get off my back! Alcohol costs more, hurts more innocent people, and is what people should be really concentrating on, but most people like to drink so no one will ever think about get rid of, or putting a cap on how many drinks you can have. And If I can't smoke in a restraunt then there should be a sound proof area for people that come in with children, and a seperate area for those over 18.

Not very smart are ya? Lots of places have a cap on how much you can drink. Not to mention, if you drink legally, which of course means you don't drive afterwards, then you aren't harming people around you. Alcohol has NEVER harmed an innocent person, an idiot who made a bad choice did that.

momshorses

I, as a non-smoker, am grateful that I can go places and avoid the smoke from other people in public places. Second hand smoke actually makes me feel sick. I struggle when I go out of buildings where people are smoking right outside the doors.

I have however, seen how all of the anti smoking stuff affected my Dad. He had been a smoker for over 50 years when all of the anti smoking things came out. In many ways, it was discriminatory against him. He grew up in an era where there was nothing wrong with smoking and it was considered normal. Many people portrayed a "holier than thou" attitude and were very hurtful towards him. That was not the way to convince him to stop.

With all of the education and knowledge we now have concerning what smoking does to our bodies I can't see why a person would want to smoke. For those who do, it may be an addiction they need help with, not critisism. It goes back to the saying, " It doesn't matter how right you are, if your attitude is wrong, you are still wrong." We can't "make" anyone do anything. We just have to love them where they are at and be there for them as they continue to learn and grow.

Just as a side note. My Dad did quit smoking 8 years ago. It was cold turkey the night before he had a brain tumor removed. He hasn't had a cigarette since. His smoking did however cause problems during one of the surgeries. He had problems recovering from the anisthetic because his body was in nicotine withdrawal and did much better when the nurses put a nicotine patch on him. In a second surgery he had to have two weeks later (due to a complication during the first one) Dad's lungs did not want to start working on their own again. But, 8 years later, Dad is still here and other than your typical age related problems, doing really well.

EmilyOfTheSun

lmfao. What makes smoking selfish? Unless you're blowing smoke into another person's face I don't see how it could be considered selfish. I'm an X smoker....still give into the occasional cig but I have quit for the most part.

Personally when I did smoke regularly, I didn't give a *kitten* if someone "persecuted" me. I minded my business and didn't bother anyone else, so if someone had a problem with me for that, screw them :smokin:

SFBarbear

As someone who feels ill around cigarette smoke, I consider smoking to be a public nuisance. Your addiction should not trump my ability to breathe. So, yes, I am in favor banning smoking in public places, just like I am in favor public noise ordinances and open bottle laws. That said, I don't understand people who feel the need to "enlighten" smokers about the dangers of their habit.

I feel the same way about all perfumes and cologne