Should smoking be......

[Planogirl]

I don't think that smoking should be made illegal and I think that it should be fine in most outdoor places and homes and cars. I also think that bars and restaurants should be allowed to choose to allow smoking or not as long as it's clearly posted outside. If smoking outside is banned then I want big SUV's banned too.

I also agree with Babar that too many people suddenly become ill when the issue of smoking comes up. I'm not saying that no one is affected but the numbers seem a bit high.

 

[snoopy]

There's a huge difference with these things. If you eat poorly, don't exercise, or go tanning, it doesn't impact MY health, only yours. Smoking impacts my health and my ability to go certain places or enjoy certain activities. I think you can do what you'd like to your own body if it doesn't infringe on other people's rights.

Point well taken.

But are you suggesting cigarettes be made illegal? And if so, would the punishment for those caught smoking be prison time?

 

[jrydberg]

Depends... we talking intent to distribute cigarettes, felony possession or just a cigarette paraphernalia charge?

Seriously though, outlawing it won't solve anything. I'm about as anti-smoking as they come. It's a disgusting habit. No, I won't ever be able to understand why someone can't just quit. But that said, as long as there's a reasonable effort to keep that nasty stuff away from me, that's all I need. The bottom line for me is that people should be free to do idiotic things

 

[totalia]

I would LOVE it if they banned smoking. It wouldn't effect me at all and will likely save the lives of everyone I love. I've never smoked and my mom died of lung cancer caused by smoking.

What I can't believe is that my family watched my mother suffer horribly and they still haven't quit.

Let's get rid of it completely. We'd all be better off.

I don't want to end up like my mother. The suffering she went through has no words for the horror of it all. Death is better. Though it would be alot worse if it was caused by all the second hand smoke because so few smokers care about who's inhaling their leftovers.

 

[babar]

You are not going to get cancer by walking behind a smoker.

You are not going to get cancer by eating in a restaurant where someone smokes.

You are not going to get cancer by having smoke blow in an open window.

 

[Cantw8]

Hasn't this been done to death?

 

[Dan Murphy]

You are not going to get cancer by walking behind a smoker.

You are not going to get cancer by eating in a restaurant where someone smokes.

You are not going to get cancer by having smoke blow in an open window.

Yes, babar, those ALL are contributing occasions to ills originating from, or exacerbated from, second hand smoke

 

[babar]

I'm sorry Dan, but walking behind someone (unless you do it all day long, all night long, every day) is not going to cause cancer. Nor will it cause cancer if you happen to eat in a restaurant with smoker.

It won't.

 

[jrydberg]

Yeah, it will. A lot of smokers don't want to hear that, but it will raise the risk of cancer.

Again, I'm not advocating banning smoking, or even restricting it more. But it is a health hazard for others.

 

[Crankyshank]

Allergy related asthmatic here. I do not think smoking should be made illegal but I am in favor of bans on smoking in indoor public places.

You can get cancer from a lot of things- should we ban everything that causes illness or cancer? 3 people in my parents' neighborhood last year got a very rare form of brain cancer from what they think is well water stemming from pesticide contamination back when the neighborhood used to be a farm. The CDC is investigating. We certainly can't ban water.

As long as smokers aren't littering the area with their butts, blowing smoke in my face, or smoking in smoke-free zones then they are adults and can pollute their body as much as they choose.

 

[babar]

So you are seriously telling me, that if you are around secondhand smoke for a very short amount of time.....you will get cancer?

Let's not be hysterical people. I'll agree that the risk increases for people who are exposed to it all the time..

But no, not for people who have to walk by someone smoking in a park.

 

[sweet angel]

I'm curious, and I ask this with the utmost respect to all non-smokers and not in any way intending to start a fight...

Before it became politically incorrect to smoke and people smoked everywhere...offices, supermarkets, stores, while pregnant, around children, etc., where did all the non-smoking people hide?

It seems that as it's become more politically incorrect, people have come out of the woodwork.

 

[sgtdisney]

I can't answer for anyone else, but all I can say is when I am around smoke in a confined space it gives me a massive headache. The smell is pervasive and also obnoxious to those who don't smoke. I am not against smoking. If a person wants to smoke let them. If it effects their own health (or not) so be it, just the same as someone who over eats or overdrinks, that is their choice. I am completely for a ban of it in public spaces however. I have almost never seen a smoker smoke at the same time they are eating. They extinquish the cigarette and eat. However when I am sitting next to someone smoking I can't extinquish the smell and all of a sudden my meal tastes like a cigarette, not to mention the headache that follows it.

Smoke at home, smoke in your car. Smoke outside. However, I think that all restaurants and public places should either be smoke free or be forced to provide a closed off room with a seperate ventilation system for people who chose to be in non-smoking. If a smoker can go without smoking on an airplane for 1 to 5 hours and they don't smoke when they themselves are eating I think that they can go 1 hour without smoking in a public restaurant. I am all for freedom of choice, but when it effects my freedoms I don't like it.

 

[totalia]

You are not going to get cancer by walking behind a smoker.

You are not going to get cancer by eating in a restaurant where someone smokes.

You are not going to get cancer by having smoke blow in an open window.

No but you can get cancer by living in the same house as a smoker. EVERY ONE of my family smokes and has my entire life. Except me. And they all think I'm weird.

Though btw, those things are CONTRIBUTING factors. Have you ever seen the barmaids who end up with lung cancer because they work around cigarette smoke every day? How you can tell me that doesn't contribute, I don't know.

 

[sweet angel]

The smell is pervasive and also obnoxious to those who don't smoke.

I smoke and can smell it on others and I agree it's gross.

I also would prefer to sit in a non-smoking section and don't smoke in my house.

However, if I'm taking a walk through a park and want to have a cigarette, I feel I should be able to, as long as I don't dump the butt on the ground. In open air, there shouldn't be a problem.

I wouldn't (obviously) do it if there was a crowd of people around me.

In WDW there are smoking areas -- they're packed with people. Some are off the beaten trail, some (like the one by the castle) are where people (presumably non-smokers) would have to walk. There should be some form of compromise.

 

[Dan Murphy]

So you are seriously telling me, that if you are around secondhand smoke for a very short amount of time.....you will get cancer?

Let's not be hysterical people. I'll agree that the risk increases for people who are exposed to it all the time..

But no, not for people who have to walk by someone smoking in a park.

babar, if I had to walk past one smoker, one time, fine. If I have to be in the area of smokers, over a period of years, yes, I will be affecrted. It is fact.

 

[danacara]

I appreciate considerate smokers ... wish there were more of them ...

Interesting to think about what would happen if cigarettes had been invented today, with no powerful lobby to back them. Would we all be open to allowing smoking in as many places as it's currently allowed? How would we feel the first time we smelled someone else's smoke? Revolted?

As a side point, I feel bad for smokers, and I'll never become one but for a reason that I doubt most share. It's expensive, but that's not it ... it's unpleasant to have to stand outside in cold weather, but that's not it. It's that smoking a cigarette seems to be saying, "I am dependent on this material thing that is hurting my body, and I can't control it." It makes me crazy to communicate a flaw like that to strangers. That was part of the reason I lost weight - I absolutely hated the nonverbal message I sent, "I can't control my eating, and that's a flaw in me that you can detect. You can use to discriminate against me, or look down on me, or be uninterested in me." It makes me crazy to do that. I'm going to present the most mentally powerful and physically beautiful shell I can to the world, hoping that good things will bounce back at me. It means no smoking and watching what I eat. I have to think there are people out there who feel this way too.

 

[Deb in IA]

Yup. Make them illegal.

 

[sweet angel]

I wonder how much in taxes the tobacco companies pay and how much it would raise our taxes if they were put out of business? And, would people be willing to pay those taxes without complaint?

 

[danacara]

I wonder how much in taxes the tobacco companies pay and how much it would raise our taxes if they were put out of business? And, would people be willing to pay those taxes without complaint?

Some economists believe that the drop in corporate tax revenue would be tiny compared to the savings to Medicare, given that smoking is a main cause of medical problems. If smoking drops, hospital visits drop, costs incurred to taxpayers drop. This is especially true given that smoking rates rise inversely with household income, translation: the poor are really getting their rear-ends kicked the hardest medically. It's sad.