Smoking Etiquette Question

[First timer]

OK another bite taken! If you asked most smokers 98% would tell you that they would lover to quit. Some of us started many years ago without benefit of all the informantion that is out there now. I hope you realize that it is not something we do to annoy the non smoking population, many of us are intelligent hard working and are someones mother someones daughter son or father. There are very few places to smoke that are designated. I attempt to quit on every vacation and sadly to date have not quit. I alwys utilize the areas that are our little timeout spots.

I will never light up anywhere in the presence of a baby. In public or private. I wonder how many of you have passed in gas in public to me thats offensive! The folks that bath in colgone usually a horrible scent can tigger my allergies. Do I give them dirty looks or stand in angry judgement? NO! WHat about people intoxicated they are dangerous to my health yet they can walk around parks can't they and drive causing more trouble than my smoking does. IN the perfect world I would be smoke free, loud drunks would be behind bars literally and people that bath in perfume would be put out to pasture with all the other funky smells! How does that appeal to you??

Doesn't sound very nice does it?? How many of you non smoking folks may have left a party after having a cocktail or let someone drive who has?? I am sure you will all say never!!! WEll I can tell you, I lost a pregnant family member driving with her children by a drunk driver, I wish he would have had a cigaretter instead of a drink!

If you are ever offended by someones smoking you can say something and more times than not you will get an apology and maybe you can see there is a person with heart! I was raised in a society where smoking was in malls, movies doctors offices and many other places. For me growing up it was more common than non smokers, wierd huh?? Be patient with me, I hate spending this money I could use on Disney vacations, or the fact that I hate the smell of cigarettes maybe one day I can quit. But I will always be mindful to remember the sadness that dirty looks and judgements can cause. I rahter go through life being one of the good guys, someone that always has a kind word for all. Do you think that there is smoking and non smoking in Heaven or do all smokers go to hell??

AMEN!

 

[Charleyann]

If you request a room that is nonsmoking and you paid for that room. Only to find out it has been used as smoking room previous night and smoke is travelling via vents into the rooms....damn straight Disney needs to make it right! Especially when they have been forwarned of a client medical condition and agreed upon a nonsmoking room to begin with.

As for going to California. I HAVE bought and paid for airline tickets and a hotel room which Disneyworld said would be nonsmoking! Is Disney therefore, going to risk lawsuit and put my already sick child in a smoking room and further damage his health and expect not any repercussions? I THINK NOT!

Disney in the end will want to fix the nasties, to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits!

Charleyann

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Not to cause a debate, but I honetly don't know: I always request nonsmoking rooms, however it seems like I always get a neighbor who smokes. The rooms of course have the nonsmoking plaque on the door, so they smoke standing outside their rooms. The only problem is then we have to walk through the smoke to get to our room. I have no problem with smokers smoking in the designated areas as I feel if I walk through that area it's my own fault, however what do you do when you can't get to your room without passing a smoker? If I'm by myself I can just turn and go the opposite way either toward the stairs or toward the elevator, however if I'm with my mom we have to use the elevators due to her scooter. For that matter we always manage to run into smokers downstairs standing next to the elevators and smoking. Usually all the nonsmoking rooms are on the same floor. Correct? If so then should these people be smoking outside their rooms? Again if I get a room on a smoking floor or if I happen to walk through a smoking area then it's my own fault, but I hate trying to get to my door or waiting for an elevator in a cloud of smoke. Should smokers be smoking outside on the walkway of their nonsmoking rooms where nonsmokers must pass by?

I hesitate to jump in when I've not read every page because the following may already have been posted - but just in case it has not - here is a reply from WDW Online Communications - originally posted on DIS in August, 2005.

Subject: Smoke free at Disney

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort.
In the last few years, our Guests have increasingly voiced dissatisfaction about exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke as well as the dangers of lighted cigarettes in close quarters. Based on this consistent feedback, we have made the decision to limit smoking to designated areas throughout our Parks and resorts.
Smoking is not permitted in any areas not designated as smoking areas, including balconies of non-smoking rooms. We are also in the process of creating designated smoking areas at our many resort pools. We believe that this change in policy allows us to respond to our non-smoking Guests' concerns, while also providing options for adult Guests who want to smoke.
Guests are advised of this policy and our Cast Members strive to enforce it as courteously as possible. Guests can refer to Park maps and signage for designated smoking locations or ask a Cast Member for assistance.
It is our goal to provide an enjoyable experience for all of our Guests while visiting our Parks and Resorts. We continually evaluate our operation and make changes wherever necessary.
Your comments have been shared with all those concerned so that they will be aware of your remarks. Your input is appreciated.
If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.
Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if applicable, on all correspondence.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Angela Singleton
WDW Online Communications

 

[plutolovr]

Currently right now only about 20% of the population in the US smoke. It's to bad that the very vocal minority dictates what happens in this country. Should smoking be banned? I don't think so, after all it is an addiction, but if the smokers of the world would just show some respect and nonsmokers would show it in return maybe we could come to a happy medium between us.

Sometimes things like this don't make any sense to me. Yes smoking is an addiction, but so is heroin, and it's banned along with other drugs, and yes, tobacco and nicotine are drugs, and I think it's only a matter of time until they become illegal also. I would love to see that in my lifetime. I grew up with both parents smoking, my dad died of lung cancer last year, my mom still smokes, but NEVER around me because I have been fighting with her over this for years. I just don't get how you can watch your mother, father and husband die all from smoking related illnesses and continue to do the same thing.

 

[pezheadmeg]

As a former smoker, who lost a beloved aunt to lung disease, I'll still side with the smokers. Why I don't always enjoy the smell of smoke, I respect a smoker's right to do so.

And to be honest if I was told I could not caffinate at Disney, I would be a disaster. I understand smokers that need their cigarettes to function.


= to some people.

 

[freckles and boo]

I believe that most smokers (polite and rude alike) don't realize how PERVASIVE secondhand smoke is. It doesn't just go away when the cigarette is gone. Indoors in particular the odor sticks to everything - pillows, carpets, drapes, clothing, hair, walls... It is obvious to most non-smokers if a room as been smoked in almost immediately. As for outdoors, if someone is courteous enough to use a designated area, I am going to be courteous as well. If I am waiting in a line or sitting on my balcony I will politely request they stop before I raise my own "stink". But I will say something because smoke is an asthma trigger for me and I don't want my vacation ruined by someone who won't follow the rules.

As for it being an addiction - it is one of the hardest to kick. Good luck to all of you who sincerely want to stop!!!

 

[ToriLammy]

I hesitate to jump in when I've not read every page because the following may already have been posted - but just in case it has not - here is a reply from WDW Online Communications - originally posted on DIS in August, 2005.

Subject: Smoke free at Disney

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort.
In the last few years, our Guests have increasingly voiced dissatisfaction about exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke as well as the dangers of lighted cigarettes in close quarters. Based on this consistent feedback, we have made the decision to limit smoking to designated areas throughout our Parks and resorts.
Smoking is not permitted in any areas not designated as smoking areas, including balconies of non-smoking rooms. We are also in the process of creating designated smoking areas at our many resort pools. We believe that this change in policy allows us to respond to our non-smoking Guests' concerns, while also providing options for adult Guests who want to smoke.
Guests are advised of this policy and our Cast Members strive to enforce it as courteously as possible.

And yet here almost a year later folks are saying that they are being told it is okay to smoke on the balconey of non-smoking rooms. You'd think that by now almost a year later Disney would have posted the policy in the non-smoking rooms with balconies but apparently they have not. It appears that as with most things asked of Disney it depends on who is asking the question.

Also has anyone who as been recently seen "Designated smoking area" signs at any hotel other than Shades of Green (I did see them there but then SOG is not a Disney Hotel and well they allow smoking on their balconies.)

 

[grinningghost]

Oh how I tried to avoid jumping in.

But I just wanted to agree with the person who said that smokers often have no idea how the smoke odor sticks to everything. Once they quit, they then realize it and have to question how they stood it for all those years.

I'm all for smoking and non-smoking areas at WDW, I just wish that everyone could truly adhere to the policies set up by Disney. Secondhand smoke will travel, and it will hang in the air or stick to stuff, BUT if the smoker is smoking in a designated smoking area, then everyone else probably needs to shut up about it. Me included - and I don't smoke.

 

[english rose 47]

I had an issue back in February at Pop with smoking

Please do not smoke in the bathroom if you can't get a smoking room! We had a room at Pop and we were in a non-smoking room, bottom floor - every now and then our room would fill up with the smell of smoke. It was driving me crazy where it was coming from. I finally figured out someone was smoking in the bathroom above us and it was travelling through the vents in the bathroom. We ended up keeping the bathroom door closed and I had to buy some air sanitizer!

I am assuming that this person was unable to get a smoking room and thought that this was the best place to go - It wasn't!

I have requested a smoking room smoking in the bathroom was for DGS and we have 2 rooms. At home I only smoke in my bedroom with the door closedor outside or oin my car.Sop I'm the one getting the second hand smoke.

 

[m&m's mom]

Not trying to flame you...and i havent read all the thread but this shocked me.

An asthmatic child should NEVER be housed in the smoking section of a resort. The airducts intermingle and there is no escaping the smoke. You risk her health by doing this.

BTW i am a respiratory pediatric nurse at a large childrens hospital, i deal with this all the time, you just never know when the trigger will happen, esp if she isnt used to a lot of smoke (smoke lingers after all) or if she will be in your room.

Now dont get me wrong i smoke...yup i do, i should know better. We always get the nonsmoking rooms and smoke outside, just like at home. None of my kids are asthmatic but i know what it feels like to not smoke and that smell is icky.

WOW! I am not trying to attack you but I am shocked at this.
My DD was a patient at a "Large Childrens Hospital" several years back and if there was ANY hospital employee around her that had been smoking that potentially could have been very harmful to her very preemie lungs. And you are a PEDIATRIC RESPIRATORY nurse - that can't be a worse combination. Those little babies in repressed respiratory systems cannot be around someone whose clothes have cigarette smoke in them.
I am pleased at least some hospitals are restricting smoking by personnel although I guess if you smoke on the way into work it is still on your clothes.

 

[LadyyRedd]

I do not smoke, but I agree with a smoker's right to smoke - in the areas that are designated as permissible to be smoked in.

With that said, I don't go to the areas where there is smoking permitted and I don't patronize establishments that don't have an area designated as smoke-free.

If an area is designated as non-smoking, then I do have a problem with someone smoking there.

Kimya

 

[kaytieeldr]

Please point out where it makes that distinction.

Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause children to develop asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, other respiratory infections, and ear infections

Common sense; see highlighted terminology. In general (not in the case of Charleyann's son or others with existing lung diseases), walking past cigarette smoke will not cause anybody to develop any of the given conditions. Repeated or continual exposure to cigarette smoke may/will.

You can't beleive the smell that sticks on your clothes.

My brother had to drive my car about fifteen miles once, back when I smoked. He told me later he'd had to put his jacket, tie and shirt in the trunk because of the cigarette smoke residual in the car.

If you request a room that is nonsmoking and you paid for that room. Only to find out it has been used as smoking room previous night and smoke is travelling via vents into the rooms....damn straight Disney needs to make it right! Especially when they have been forwarned of a client medical condition and agreed upon a nonsmoking room to begin with. As for going to California. I HAVE bought and paid for airline tickets and a hotel room which Disneyworld said would be nonsmoking! Is Disney therefore, going to risk lawsuit and put my already sick child in a smoking room and further damage his health and expect not any repercussions? I THINK NOT! Disney in the end will want to fix the nasties, to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits!

But they ARE giving you a non-smoking room. Short of posting a Cast Member in each room 24 hours a day, Disney can't prevent people from smoking in a non-smoking room (nor can ANY hotel, again short of posting an employee in each room 24/7). You can demand an ionizer and some other special air-cleaning equipment, or a move to another room, but you can't expect to be upgraded at ANY hotel company's expense to a more expensive non-smoking property. Besides, as stated above, Guests CAN and MAY smoke on the balconies of the Contemporary (currently reportedly Disney's only entirely no smoking anywhere IN the building property).
As with ANY reservation request, a request is exactly that - a request. Disney does its best to grant all requests and they do better at it than most other hotel companies, but the only thing they have to guarantee the Guest is that a room will be available for them at the resort and level for which they paid. Yes, they've agreed to give you a non-smoking room (who did, by the way - CRO? The hotel itself? Special services?) but as you've seen from this thread, people sometimes smoke in non-smoking rooms. If your room's been smoked in, you can call Housekeeping and request a special cleaning, but Disney is NOT going to move you to a more expensive hotel, threats of publicity and lawsuits notwithstanding. Ultimately, you travel anywhere at your OWN risk.

 

[nurseypoo5]

O/T but Nurseypoo do you smoke at work (I mean on your breaks?). I'm asking because I also work at a Children's Hospital and as of July 4, employees are not permitted to smoke at all during their shift (on or off property during lunch, breaks, etc). Just wondering if other Children's Hospitals have this policy and how it was working.

no I dont, but others do. I never seem to have time to find my way outside long enough to take a break like that, heck in a 12 hour shift we only get 30 minutes for lunch (i work nights) .The few that do you cant really smell it on them, especially since they go outside and wash up well afterwards. I do have one before getting to work and for a year no one even knew i smoked.

No, we have designated areas. one is plain stupid tho. Its in the garage (pt garage at that) just as you walk into the main hospital. I would NEVER smoke there, that seems so stupid to me. ugh.

 

[nurseypoo5]

There is no smoking permitted outside your doors ! Told me not to worry. Now, why would people admit they smoke outside their doors if it weren't true! Just to start a riot? NOT !!!! I called the 1-800 number.....who do I contact now? Cause I just can't risk putting my already sick one, through something that could harm him fiurther?

If Disney can't provide completely nonsmoking buildings for people sensitiive to smoke in value and mod hotels....then they should upgrade at their expense, building where smoke is profibitated!

One would think, Disney magic would take children's health into consideration and ban smoking completely. Surprised they haven't been slapped with a lawsuit over this!

Charleyann

I hate to say this, but you could possibly be in for a rude awakening. Not everyone is sensitive to others. I would put a large sign that says

Ill Child, Please do not smoke near our door! Thank you!

I hate to say that you need to be the one that is hypervigilent but you do. You cant control everyone and everything, there are going to be those that do as they please, no matter if its disney or elsewhere.

There are designated smoking areas in the parks also, you might want to find out where so you can avoid those also.

 

[nurseypoo5]

WOW! I am not trying to attack you but I am shocked at this.
My DD was a patient at a "Large Childrens Hospital" several years back and if there was ANY hospital employee around her that had been smoking that potentially could have been very harmful to her very preemie lungs. And you are a PEDIATRIC RESPIRATORY nurse - that can't be a worse combination. Those little babies in repressed respiratory systems cannot be around someone whose clothes have cigarette smoke in them.
I am pleased at least some hospitals are restricting smoking by personnel although I guess if you smoke on the way into work it is still on your clothes.

I'm sorry your child ever had to be a pt at (what is probably our hospital, although we do not have a neonatal intensive care unit, so maybe not) but you would be suprised at how many Dr's, nurses and Respiratory Therapists (RT;s are the worst) that smoke.

I agree that if you smell smoke on a health care employee then its your right to refuse thier care. I've never in my years there had anyone say i smelled like smoke though. (including my mother who doesnt know i smoke....yup and i'm grown up..still hiding from mom lol)

 

[Nanu57v]

Nurseypoo---just noticed your ticker...congrats on the weight loss success!

 

[eclectics]

OK another bite taken! If you asked most smokers 98% would tell you that they would lover to quit. Some of us started many years ago without benefit of all the informantion that is out there now. I hope you realize that it is not something we do to annoy the non smoking population, many of us are intelligent hard working and are someones mother someones daughter son or father. There are very few places to smoke that are designated. I attempt to quit on every vacation and sadly to date have not quit. I alwys utilize the areas that are our little timeout spots.

I will never light up anywhere in the presence of a baby. In public or private. I wonder how many of you have passed in gas in public to me thats offensive! The folks that bath in colgone usually a horrible scent can tigger my allergies. Do I give them dirty looks or stand in angry judgement? NO! WHat about people intoxicated they are dangerous to my health yet they can walk around parks can't they and drive causing more trouble than my smoking does. IN the perfect world I would be smoke free, loud drunks would be behind bars literally and people that bath in perfume would be put out to pasture with all the other funky smells! How does that appeal to you??

Doesn't sound very nice does it?? How many of you non smoking folks may have left a party after having a cocktail or let someone drive who has?? I am sure you will all say never!!! WEll I can tell you, I lost a pregnant family member driving with her children by a drunk driver, I wish he would have had a cigaretter instead of a drink!

If you are ever offended by someones smoking you can say something and more times than not you will get an apology and maybe you can see there is a person with heart! I was raised in a society where smoking was in malls, movies doctors offices and many other places. For me growing up it was more common than non smokers, wierd huh?? Be patient with me, I hate spending this money I could use on Disney vacations, or the fact that I hate the smell of cigarettes maybe one day I can quit. But I will always be mindful to remember the sadness that dirty looks and judgements can cause. I rahter go through life being one of the good guys, someone that always has a kind word for all. Do you think that there is smoking and non smoking in Heaven or do all smokers go to hell??

Good luck Don't give up trying!

 

[pugdog]

Just released today.






News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343


New Surgeon General’s Report Focuses on the Effects of Secondhand Smoke
U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today issued a comprehensive scientific report which concludes that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. The finding is of major public health concern due to the fact that nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are still regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

The report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, finds that even brief secondhand smoke exposure can cause immediate harm. The report says the only way to protect nonsmokers from the dangerous chemicals in secondhand smoke is to eliminate smoking indoors.

“The report is a crucial warning sign to nonsmokers and smokers alike,” HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said. "Smoking can sicken and kill, and even people who do not smoke can be harmed by smoke from those who do.”

Secondhand smoke exposure can cause heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma attacks in infants and children, the report finds.

“The health effects of secondhand smoke exposure are more pervasive than we previously thought,” said Surgeon General Carmona, vice admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service. “The scientific evidence is now indisputable: secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults.” Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals, and is itself a known human carcinogen. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke inhale many of the same toxins as smokers. Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer, the report says. In addition, the report notes that because the bodies of infants and children are still developing, they are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.

“The good news is that, unlike some public health hazards, secondhand smoke exposure is easily prevented,” Surgeon General Carmona said. “Smoke-free indoor environments are proven, simple approaches that prevent exposure and harm.” The report finds that even the most sophisticated ventilation systems cannot completely eliminate secondhand smoke exposure and that only smoke-free environments afford full protection.

Surgeon General Carmona noted that levels of cotinine -- a biological marker for secondhand smoke exposure -- measured in nonsmokers have fallen by 70 percent since the late 1980s, and the proportion of nonsmokers with detectable cotinine levels has been halved from 88 percent in 1988-91 to 43 percent in 2001-02.

“Our progress over the past 20 years in clearing the air of tobacco smoke is a major public health success story,” Surgeon General Carmona said. “We have averted many thousands of cases of disease and early death and saved millions of dollars in health care costs.” He emphasized, however, that sustained efforts are required protect the more than 126 million Americans who continue to be regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in the home, at work, and in enclosed public spaces.

To help communicate the report findings as widely as possible, the Surgeon General unveiled an easy-to-read guide with practical information on the dangers of secondhand smoke and steps people can take to protect themselves.

Copies of The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General and related materials are available on the Surgeon General’s Web site at www.surgeongeneral.gov.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Common sense; see highlighted terminology. In general (not in the case of Charleyann's son or others with existing lung diseases), walking past cigarette smoke will not cause anybody to develop any of the given conditions. Repeated or continual exposure to cigarette smoke may/will.

Simply not true. A short blast of secondhand smoke (or it's residual) can send an asthmatic into an acute attack which he or she could in fact die from.

The latest research has also shown that even short exposures (i.e. 30 minutes) to secondhand smoke can cause changes in blood composition of non-smokers which could potentially precipitate a coronary event. http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cach...vity+in+non+smokers&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=29

If you have any further doubt, research it yourself, or refer to the excellent article posted above by pugdog.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Simply not true. A short blast of secondhand smoke (or it's residual) can send an asthmatic into an acute attack which he or she could in fact die from.

Which is different from developing asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, other respiratory infections, and ear infections -. Even in the instance given, it's the responsibility of the asthmatic to avoid the cigarette smoke.

The report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, finds that even brief secondhand smoke exposure can cause immediate harm. The report says the only way to protect nonsmokers from the dangerous chemicals in secondhand smoke is to eliminate smoking indoors.

“The report is a crucial warning sign to nonsmokers and smokers alike,” HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said. "Smoking can sicken and kill, and even people who do not smoke can be harmed by smoke from those who do.”

Readers may want to note the multiple uses of the word "can", both in the segment quoted and in the rest of the report. Even the Surgeon General isn't saying unequivocally that smoking WILL harm non-smokers, but that it CAN.

It should also be noted that this (700 page, if anybody wants to read the whole thing) applies to indoor smoke. Smokers can still smoke outdoors; Disney, Universal and SeaWorld already go beyond the expected and restrict smoking to specific areas outdoors in the parks.