Why does everyone harp on about smoking?

I’m not big on toxic waste either.

I think I answered it well enough on the other thread. Food can be beneficial, even the worst of it in small quantities is not harmful and provides at least some necessary fuel to the body. Alcohol consumed in moderation can be beneficial and is not harmful. Cars are now a necessary form of transportation and provide a valuable service. Smoking is harmful at any level and provides no benefits.

And for the record, many people who are anti smoking are also environmentalists who do what they can to reduce their own personal pollution impacts and are activists who work to see pollution from cars and other sources reduced.

Because if you’re not a smoker, smoking is absolutely disgusting. Not saying it’s right, but that’s pretty much what it is. It’s easy to demonize something that doesn’t really have anything good going for it.

For most people, you can pry their steering wheel from their cold dead fingers. And you can pull my scotch from my cold dead fingers. =)

Because we like you.

@Adirondackwannabe loll

A morbidly obese person eating next to me doesn’t affect me in the same way that a person smoking next to me does.

I’m not in favor of restricting a person’s right to smoke altogether, only when it impacts others.

Because we have learned from our (alleged) Government that we should restrict the freedoms of others, in order to make them think and act, the way that we want them to think and act.

bottom line, my body my choice, if i want to inject pepsi cola in to my jugular its my business. if you dont like the smoke move away.

EDIT: simple solution/rule…

when a smoker and a non smoker meet, and one of them has a problem with the other, whoever was there first stays and the others moves away.

@snarp fair point, but does transport as a necessity then make it right?

Because it is so god-damned annoying to smell that smoke. I always get a headache.

Why does anyone smoke? Seriously, this isn’t 1970, everyone knows how harmful it is, that it can contribute to a huge variety of health issues, let alone emphysema and cancer, and frankly, it takes a lot of work to start smoking. I don’t think anyone really enjoys their first cigarette, and the buzz feels more like being sick than anything fun. Yet millions of people still start and manage to addict themselves. Then they either don’t bother to quit or just can’t manage to do it. What’s the deal with that?

I’ll go with the yearly wildfires that are almost invariably started by someone flicking a butt out the car window.

I was in a restaurant the other day and all of a sudden I began to smell cigarette smoke. We no longer have smoking in restaurants. I looked around and realized they had begun to seat people outside, I was sitting next to doors that led outside, and the table next to the door (the doors were closed) was smoking. I don’t think smokers get that even through a door non-smokers can be bothered by their smoke.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities the point is we both crave food. In fact when we are hungry we all crave food.

@Snarp I started smoking looong before the health warnings came out.

@wundayatta I think booze stinks no offence

@Seek_Kolinahr good point. However, some campers leave their camp fires burning you know.

@Just_Justine Cars have emissions controls, the tailpipe emissions of most cars have had a huge number of pollutants already removed, and it gets better every year. People have been working for years to make cars cleaner, and they keep improving. It’s not perfect, but it’s possible to make it better and we’re doing it. If you want an equivalence you’ll have to get a smoking helmet so that everything produced by the cigarette is filtered by your lungs and possibly another filter before being released to the atmosphere.

What they should ban is cars that aren’t tuned properly and don’t meet the emissions control standards.

@Just_Justine No, the point is that somebody else eating food doesn’t have a negative effect on me, whereas somebody else smoking does.

@Just_Justine When? The health warnings have been out a looong time. 1966 I believe. There was discussion of health effects before the warnings were required.

Honestly, your logic is deeply flawed but you don’t want to admit it because you don’t want to give up your ability to satisfy your addiction to a harmful drug anywhere you want to.

@JLeslie in my country of residence that had sanctions placed on it and was dumped from the rest of the world for many years, well we only had warnings around about 1980’ something.

Addicts will always argue the freedom to harm themselves argument.
Those who have already quit will always argue the I don’t want your cancer argument….

And ne’er the twain shall meet.

@Just_Justine My mistake, I made the assumption you are American.

@Just_Justine: As I also said on the other thread, people harp on about smoking because it is socially acceptable to do so. I am more negatively affected by a drunk than I am by a smoker but if I say that, then I don’t know how to have fun, I’m too judgmental, etc. etc.

Also, an interesting little tidbit that people almost always seem to forget is that smoking doesn’t actually cause diseases. You have to have the genetic factors first. Smoking can be the trigger and yes, it is unhealthy, but a person who lacks the genetics to get lung cancer will not magically get lung cancer after smoking.

@Seek_Kolinahr: You seem pretty vehement about a few smokers causing forest fires but that shouldn’t mean that all are punished. You don’t lose your license because I get into a car accident.

@Snarp please understand, I do realise I would be better off without it. However, being addicted is a craving, like being hungry or thirsty. I am tired of being banned from everywhere, when there are bigger issues to deal with. I just feel constantly targeted and thrown outside. I know you’re all glad. But our oxygen is still not that clean if you toss us aside. @JLeslie I think it was even later than 1980 in fact. But admittedly we were aware to a large extent it was not good for us. But we had no warnings printed, reminder etc., there isn’t even a smoke enders in my city?? In fact cigarette advertising was at an all time high around then. We even had the Gunston world surfing competitions here. *Gunston Cigarettes.

@KatawaGrey is in some serious denial.

@KatawaGrey yes indeed, this has been proven. My dad for e.g. smoked 60 a day for 60 years he died finally of kidney failure. Normal causes. At age 80.

@KatawaGrey
Do you really think that smoking doesn’t cause disease? Read some medical journals or ask an expert. Just because you smoke and die of something else, doesn’t mean that the smoking didn’t effect your body in negative ways. I could have smoked for 50 years and not died of lung cancer because I was hit by a car instead.

@Just_Justine Damn right I’m glad. When I can go to a restaurant with my kids and not worry about what they’re inhaling and know that I will not wake up with a cough in the middle of the night, I’m very glad. Sadly I live near the state line and there’s a great bar across the line that has lots of live music, but smoking is allowed there. I don’t go because I will literally wake up in the middle of the night coughing if I do.

And if it’s just a craving, you can quit right now, save your health (it causes far more than lung cancer, including many things that genetic markers have not been determined for), age better, look better, feel better, and save money.

Now I’m going to drop this because it makes me too angry because my grandfather and his grandfather both died of smoking induced cancer and my father won’t quit even though he knows damn well that he is going to deprive my sons of a grandfather, just as he often lamented my not knowing mine. Sad really, a whole family in which no one gets to know their grandfather because of a craving.

Probably because it smells terrible, is bad for the environment, and causes people to die. You can bring up as many examples as you like of people smoking their entire lives and never getting cancer, emphysema, or other illnesses, but the fact is, it’s amongst the most toxic and harmful things you can do to your body.
I know young people around 20 years of age who have smoked for about 4 years, about half a pack a day, and when they quit smoking after only that short amount of time, they see a huge difference in their respiratory performance, sense of smell, and general, overall well being. It’s like any other addiction. Lets take alcoholism for example: you are hung over every day for a year, and you forget what it feels like to be free from a hangover. With smoking, you forget what it feels like to have clear sinuses, be able to taste food, and not be short of breath after going up a set of stairs.

Smoking is idiotic and ridiculous. That’s why people ‘harp’ on it.
@snarp
You’ve got it right.

@hudsong yeah a bit like some parks smell, when dogs are allowed to shit everywhere.

@hudsong
Well I think people are harping on it now because they are trying to defend the effects it has on people and the fact that they don’t care that other people don’t like it, they want to do it anyway.

@Just_Justine
Rarely does anyone ever die from the effects of dog shit smell.

@Seek_Kolinahr @RandomMrAdam: Please read my answer again. People seem to think that “cause” and “trigger” mean the same thing. You could have the potential to get cancer and if you smoke, you will get it. However, if you don’t smoke and you have the potential to get cancer, your chances of getting cancer go way down. But, if you do not have the potential to get cancer, you won’t get cancer from smoking. I never said there aren’t health related problems from smoking. I understand that you do not like smoking and you do not want people to smoke but ignoring the facts doesn’t help your case. smoking does not cause cancer, it triggers the genetic factors that are already there.

I don’t think smoking needs to be banned abruptly; it needs to be phased out. Which we are in the process of doing and it is a good thing.

I hear smoking makes people irritable

@KatawaGrey
I do smoke. Well, I do hookah, just as bad (maybe not as bad, but whatever) and I know it can cause cancer. Show me some research to prove your point and then I will agree with you.

Only non smokers harp on about smoking. They are trying to saves us and themselves apparently. I live in a house with a non smoker and a bunch of smokers. The ones who smoke have to go outside or into the garage because the non smoker claims it bothers her. Well when she is in bed everyone smokes in the house and she has no complaint because she does not know. I believe a lot of the issues people have are all in their heads.

If smoking bothers you then don’t go to restaurants where smoking is allowed.

@vbabe96 meantime she should go live in the garage loll.

@KatawaGrey
Read this and let me know what you think.

@RandomMrAdam they say hookah is worse (if you carry the cancer gene)

@Just_Justine
By smoking hookah instead of cigarettes, I eliminate about 500+ chemicals that also cause cancer though :P But I do agree both are bad for me. I don’t do it around people who don’t smoke though.

@RandomMrAdam: Well, I admit that I did not know that smoking could cause DNA to actually change.

Isn’t it interesting though that the only smokers whoever get harped on are cigarette smokers?

@KatawaGrey yeah, everyone wants “weed” legalized strange hey, they’ll have double the problems.

I support legalization of marijuana, mostly because I want the cost of hemp fabric to go down. I’m so sick of having to buy imported fabric. It’s too damned expensive, but I love it so!

Tobacco was sort of offered up as a sacrifice as a cancer causing thing so that we would passively ignore that other toxins cause cancer. Neat.

Maybe because pot smokers do it in their own homes where it doesn’t bother anyone and don’t think they can just light up wherever they feel like it? Act like a pot smoker and no one will complain about your cigarettes either.

@Snarp: What pot smokers do you know? Many of the pot smokers I know will do it outside, in other people’s homes, pretty much anywhere they can get away with it.

@Snarp I thought you wanted to drop the subject?

Its not only bad for you, its bad for everyone around you

I know many pot smokers. They all will look at me and my son, and say “No, no, don’t get up. We’ll take this outside.”

@Just_Justine Well, new issue that made no sense so I had to comment. @KatawaGrey You still aren’t making sense, pot smoking is illegal, most pot smokers don’t light up in public because it will get them arrested, doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions, but there are a lot of pot smokers out there, and one rarely sees them walking down the street with a joint. Certainly they aren’t lighting up in restaurants and bars, and not one of my pot smoking friends has every thought for a second about lighting up in my home. It’s that “anywhere they can get away with it” bit that restricts where they smoke.

@snarp yes but why legalize it when you are banning smokers, I guess we will all be shifted to the same stinky room, because weed friggin honks! I am not saying smokers should be allowed to blow it all over the place. Just understand that this habit was once social right? now we are lepers some of us gave up, some trying some are still trying. So yay ! let’s say a big hello to weed smokers and stamp all over the smokers. I would also take offence at a “bad” inconsiderate smoker. I also understand what being in a smoky room is like its horrible. But its all this arrogance.

Lepers, really? That’s more than a bit of an exaggeration. For the record, I think that pot and tobacco smokers should all be allowed to smoke as much as they want in their own homes and cars as long as they keep the windows rolled up and don’t have children.

Cigarette smoke affecting others is different from gas emissions from cars. People need to drive. People do not need to smoke. The smell of cigarette smoke is more pungent than that of gas emissions, so it’s more bothersome to non-smokers. And the dangers of inhaling second-hand smoke have already been well established.

Just because so-and-so’s grandpa didn’t get sick from smoking for 60 years doesn’t mean it didn’t affect his wife and kids. It most likely did. Especially young children – I know people with small children who only smoke in the car when the kid’s not in it, but of course the smoke still lingers and the kids end up getting sneezing fits or sniffles after being in that car for a while.

@vbabe96 said “Only non smokers harp on about smoking.” It’s because our health is being compromised because of someone else’s decision. We have freedoms but they come with the responsibility not to infringe on the freedom of others. I think smoking is infringing on non-smokers’ rights to health. Is that so unusual? You don’t see masses of people harping on people shooting up heroin, because it only affects the health of the person using it. Not so with smoking.

I agree pot should be considered in this like cigarettes, but since pot use is less widespread and certainly less public it’s not as big as a public health factor.

@Snarp you mean like lepers of course.

@Just_Justine If Marijuana is ever legalized in the US, it will not be legal to smoke it in public area is my guess. It will just mean that smoking it on your own property will not mean you risk a fine or imprisonment.

@Just_Justine Lepers were locked away in colonies they could not leave due to a disease that no one understood that was not of their choice. They could not have jobs, they could not move about and enjoy life and society. You can do whatever you want, you just can’t smoke while doing it. Not the least similar.

The hypocrisy around pot smoking/tobacco smoking is certainly there. My country banned smoking in bars and restaurants a couple of years ago, yet the (in)famous “coffeeshops” are not included in this law.

Number 1, it’s optional, and for most practical purposes transportation is not.

Number 2, I can’t imagine an ‘outdoor restaurant’ where you’d have enough interaction with drivers to have a discussion with them about moving their vehicle. Aside from which, I don’t expect that the vehicle is “in” the outdoor restaurant, so how would that work, exactly?

Number 3, we’ve tried to ban alcohol, with disastrous results in the US. Of course, that hasn’t stopped us from the equally futile attempt to “ban some drugs”, which is idiocy, but government mandated idiocy.

Number 4, people still have some leeway to engage in some more or less unhealthful behaviors. But “being overweight” doesn’t generally result in the constant emanation of noxious fumes. (I see you raising your eyebrows; don’t go there—everybody does that a little bit.)

I think you’re tilting at too many windmills here. I take it that you’re a smoker who objects to people telling you that you ought not to do that. Fine. (You shouldn’t.) I shouldn’t be so overweight, either, but my overweight doesn’t interfere with your meal—as long as I keep my shirt on. And no one that I know of is attempting to utterly prevent you from smoking, are they?

Now, when it comes to health insurance, I do agree with a two-tiered approach to insurance premiums. You should pay more for your “insurance” as a smoker, because statistics are pretty clear that you’re going to be needing more health care because of your smoking. So will I, likely, because of being overweight. Fine. The argument is still valid, even if I think that your premiums ought to be higher.

Because,as is evident,there is no smoke without fire.

Just look at the ads on trying to stop smoking. So many people thought smoking would be fine for them and later have changed their minds, only to then find they can’t stop. It obviously would be better to never begin.

@CyanoticWasp I give up. The smoke haters can take this thread to new heights.

I will say that most outside restaurants have cars parked outside of them. However fuel carbon monoxide does not have doors to shut it out, nor extractor fans. The weight factor is about being hungry, that is how it feels. Health insurance is an actuarial calculation based on various factors, but buy two light bulbs explain why one pops first. I also hate “bad” smokers but I hate arrogant “I am better than everyone” none smokers attitude. If they like the fresh air so much. Perhaps they can sit there in winter? Cars and transport seem to be very well received in this life, no matter what harm they have caused. It was fashionable to smoke then we all wrote how fab it was then, now we all hate it. What can I say, we all just say what we are supposed to say.

@CyanoticWasp Not to mention all the cigarette butts littering our country. Disgusting.

How dare you try to breathe while I’m smoking!

Yes, I’m just saying what I’m supposed to say. That’s it. A very good argument, how can I possibly hope to rebut that.

@CyanoticWasp You make some very valid points.
However, the part about higher insurance premiums for smokers I do not agree with. Pretty much everyone has unhealthy habits that increases their chances of getting a disease. It would be impossible to determine who should pay more or less premiums based on the way they live. One person smokes, the other drinks too much, the next person eats unhealthy food, and someone else has unsafe sex…This list could go on and on. Your proposition works in theory, but cannot be implemented in reality.

@Lve Except that it is implemented in reality for life insurance. Insurance companies routinely perform urine screenings and conduct physicals and offer varying rates based on drug use, smoking, alcohol use, dangerous jobs, blood pressure, and weight, among other things.

@cazzie I beg your pardon?

People who consciously suck pollutants into their bodies, knowing it will kill them. Don’t worry about the rest of us…. Enjoy your addiction.

@Snarp Seriously?? That is insane! That is a gross violation of your privacy! Are you talking about the US?

You have hit on the problem with your question. It isn’t simply smoking or obesity or drinking. It is the fact that in our time, people have developed a notion that if they see people doing things (smoking, drinking, parenting, teaching etc.) in a fashion in which they disapprove, it is not enough for them to merely disapprove or disagree – they feel that they must DO something about it.
Furthermore, smokers are particular targets because they are easy to marginalize. Once a segment of the population is adequately marginalized, they can be easily taxed and nobody will really care. Anytime you see a group being marginalized, you can bet that their next problem will be a tax of some sort.

@cazzie yes insulting people and calling them a dinosaur is a very intellectual approach I must say. I wonder what names I would give your bad habits? I mean if I was to attack you personally? Or what strange names I would call your person.

@Lve Yes, the U.S. Clearly you’ve never bought a significant amount of life insurance.

Hey, My son LOVES dinosaurs…. it wasn’t meant as an insult…My point was that you seem to be of an age that enjoys what they enjoy. Fine…I happen to love people like you…. but you have to try to imagine a different paradigm. Wouldn’t you want a generation that can be free of a pollutant that is elective, rather than passive?

Because stopping smoking is the single most important thing you can do to protect your health.

After smoking come other changes, among them diet and exercise. Breathing toxic fumes is way down the list.

@Snarp Well, I don’t live in the US at the moment. Besides, the fact remains that even with those tests, it is impossible to determine how someone’s (less obviously unhealthy) lifestyle choices are affecting them now or in the future.

@cazzie you don’t even know me, rather don’t patronize me if you don’t mind. I get your point. It’s been said over 62 times read above. No need to get personal. You want to say it 69 times be my guest.

@Lve But insurance companies can use those statistics over a large group of people to determine their likelihood of a payout and what rates they must charge various groups to ensure they can meet all payments and still turn a profit. Their very existence as profitable companies depends on it.

@snarp are you in the life insurance industry?

Because people love to try and control their environment (not the green variety). If they don’t like something someone does then they try to control it. No matter what the reason, I feel it always comes down to this.

I’m not the one who started this thread….

@Just_Justine Nope, just bought insurance recently.

@cazzie and your point? you seem to have one point which is the same as the others. Which is fine. Do you normally insult askers?

@snarp I have been in the life and investment industry for 15 years

Please explain how you were insulted, because that wasn’t my intention.

Dinosaur is insulting, I have to agree.

No! Dinosaur was meant that it’s simply the last of a generation. When I wrote it, the image I had in mind was those actresses that smoked so dramatically and sophisticated in the old movies. It’s the last of a dying era. I love my mother in law dearly. She smokes like the old actresses, but it’s probably the last of a dying age. They have their addiction, they enjoy it…. but…...

New generations are growing up with new social norms. We know that smoking causes preventable illnesses and disease. Avoiding the addition is a smart move. Treating the addiction can prolong life.

My sympathy goes out to those addicted. I know the forces involved in the brain and how hard it is and self cyclical. I don’t judge! It’s hard. I know. Please… but also realise, that we need to learn to know better. Wouldn’t you? If you could turn back the clock? To never start? Honestly.

You know, Fluther seemed so peaceful yesterday. What happened, was I just reading the right questions?

I don’t give a shit if people smoke and I have asthma. If I walk by someone smoking, I walk fast or hold my breath. Just because something might harm me does not mean others don’t have the right to do it.

Why do people harp on about it? Self-importance and the need to feel validated.

@cazzie Your intention matters to me, I understand it now. Let’s see if @Just_Justine feels the same.

@JLeslie thank you. I dislike misunderstandings.

@Snarp I was thinking the exact same thing.

@Snarp it is funny you should say that, I put up a question asking about “Has any one thought of doing a gratitude diary”. I have had around 9 beautiful answers. Perhaps you could have answered that one? I don’t think there are wrong or right questions, there are just feelings about the questions. I also as I said in my pm to you, value all opinions. Whether I agree or not. Some answerers got very ferocious in their answers. I think that is their issue. I am sure you will agree? @cazzie I surmise that you are saying I come from another era entirely? I assure you I am not “that” old. Most of my friends smoke and they are around 28 to 35. Perhaps you mistakenly thought of me as being a women from the 1950’s in which case just saying that might not have been so insulting at that moment. However I appreciate you clarifying it. Thank you.

@Just_Justine it’s not an ‘age’ as such… it’s an attitude. Ages change quicker than attitudes. I never thought I’d ever have a comment removed by mods….. wow. But, really…. my mother cried when she was dying and wished she had never started smoking. The cancer spread from her lungs to her bone and the pain was horrific. She was 75 and should have had at least another 10 years with her grandchildren.

We can always find something bad about everything, like cars are bad, being a fat fuck is bad, drinking is bad, smoking is bad…they all have their legitimate points too.
Problem is, tobacco companies make a killing and are, unfortunately, a significant pillar when it comes to the economy…it’s not about to go anywhere, unless everyone stops smoking all at once.
Same for many other bad things. As concern is feigned by the government on the problems that many of these things cause to people in society, the concern for second hand smoke from other people is often presented with nothing but vehemence and spite. (Especially online for some reason, which is kinda ironic haha.) And as well it should be I suppose, especially if there are children around. I just wish it was for actual concern, rather than to just bash people because you can.
It often seems that way, so much.
And am certainly not biased on the issue, I present what I observe, whether I’m spot on or dead wrong.
Puffs on this thread.

Hmm, iminant death.

I have seen the evidence personally. Calling @Just_Justine a dinosaur is as far from the truth as you can get. A classy lady, yes. A dinosaur, no.

@Adirondackwannabe you haven’t caught up with the context.

@cazzie Calling someone a dinosaur is supposed to bring to mind a classy lady from the past? No way is that were my mind is initially going to go.

I see its been moderated. If you say, you’re a relic of the past, like a dinosaur it might come across your way.

There’s always gonna be undesirable behaviors going on. That’s been happening since the fall. To ban obese people from eating would be to subject them to a long and painful death during which their body runs out of energy and their heart can’t bear to pump any longer. Toxic fumes huh? Suck it up. Cars are people’s way of getting around. Alcohol is O.K. in moderation. They already tried banning it in America in the 1920s. Just go to any history text book to see how that worked out. I think you are just waiting for a utopia in which you can’t complain.

@PacificToast What’s the fall?

@PacificToast

You are correct. There will always be undesirable behaviors going on. That is why I say let us smokers have our cigarettes and stop giving me dirty looks when I light one up.

Dirty looks? Least of your worries…. Carry on.

I’d just like to see a little more civility and consideration in society in general. Easy with the language, let them smoke where it will not affect me, and you can smoke in some areas, just don’t throw the butts on the ground.

@cazzie

My aunt who never smoked a day in her life died from lung cancer at 45. So I feel that dirty looks are the worst of my problems. I could a be a healthy person and still get a horrible disease. So I am going to continue to smoke until I feel I have a reason to quit.

All I know is that I don’t want my health effected by someone else’s choice.

I don’t mind if other people smoke, and its not like I have never smoked a cigarette. BUT when I don’t have the cancer stick in my mouth, I don’t want to have to experience any ill effects from it.

Everyone has the right to choose if they inhale that crap or not. THAT is why people make a big deal about it….smoke alll you want, just not in anyone else’s breathing space…and if that means you can only smoke in your own home, so be it.

@vbabe96 I support your right to smoke. But your excuse that you can get lung cancer anyway is not a good one.

@Symbeline The fall is when Eve ate the forbidden fruit
@vbabe96 I don’t mind if you or anyone smokes. It’s a personal choice if one wants to smoke. It’s just not mine. People die from all sorts of diseases not involved with smoking. How about we cure those for a change.

@vbabe96 yep… like I said… dirty looks are the least of your problems…. was that aunt related to you by genetics or by marriage?

@JLeslie
That is not my excuse, I happen to enjoy smoking.
@PacificToast
Thank you and I agree that we should focus our energy on curing cancer and not about what people do with their lives
@cazzie
Marriage. No one in my family(genetic) has had cancer.

@vbabe96 I say stick with that.

Is this a serious question? Are you really asking why people harp on about smoking and then getting pissed off at people for telling you why they harp on about smoking?

SMOKING IS THE SINGLE WORST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR HEALTH AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE GOOD REASON TO DO IT.

Stop acting all surprised that it bothers people. It’s noxious, deadly, and is enormously expensive to yourself and in terms of public health. It is the leading preventable cause of death and you are willingly engaging in it.

The good news is that you can quit. And as soon as you do, your body will begin the process of becoming healthy again.

@KatawaGrey: You are mistaken about how lung cancer occurs. Mutagens (like those found in cigarettes) turn perfectly healthy tissue into cancerous tissue without any risk factors whatsoever. In genetically-linked cancers mutations occur without exposure to mutagens. And that doesn’t even touch on the other illnesses that smoking contributes to (ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory infections, COPD, tuberculosis, and tracheal and bronchial cancers).

Tobacco is linked by a 2004 French study to ⅓ of all lung cancer deaths in the developed countries, and 1/5 of all cancer deaths worldwide.

But unfortunately it’s not just lung cancer you risk while smoking (and make others risk while smoking near them), it’s potentially any organ the tobacco chemicals reach. Larynx, mouth, stomach, bladder, kidney, esophagus, pancreas, skin.

And it’s not just cancer, you weaken your immune system significantly making it more prone to ALL diseases, while also risking respiratory track infections such as chronic bronchitis, etc etc.

A British study which was run for 50 years shows at least half of life-long smokers’ deaths are due to smoking.

Worldwide, the WHO estimates tobacco is linked to the equivalent number of deaths of one jumbo jet crash per hour, 24/7, all year long.

But I don’t really need to re-publish these facts and studies here, do I?

Everyone here knows that there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of studies out there, produced by established organizations which people would usually trust and refer to. But as usual when studies point to popular habits of our own, everyone turns a blind eye.

The sad truth is that we’d rather hear from these institutions of how African children die every day of water-related diseases or malnutrition, or some exotic disease that “still exists in these poor countries”.

Who really wants to hear about what WE are doing horribly wrong, and about the diseases we are allowing to thrive in our societies like never before in history?

I agree with @j0ey & @jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities. I wouldn’t say I “harp on about it” but I do feel sick and headachey when I am around a lit cigarette.

If car fumes are in my face, I feel equally as sick and unhappy about it.

I couldn’t care less if someone wants to smoke… I can’t force someone to breathe clean air but I don’t have the option of filtering the cigarette smoke from air I am trying to breathe.

I was having lunch on a park bench the other day and a woman sat next to me and lit a cigarette. I kept breathing it and her ashes kept blowing into my eyes and onto my clothes. My not smoking didn’t harm her. Suppose that is why I dislike it so much.

At the end of the day, I am not out to get smokers, I just have likes and dislikes in life and smoky air is a dislike. It is not limited to smoky air but smokers appear to feel particularly ganged up on whereas people who do other things that I equally don’t like, don’t exhibit the same level of defensive behaviour.

transport emissions chemical emissions released daily into our atmosphere causing respiratory/cancer problems
other causes of lung cancer including radon gas
predisposition to lung cancer and other causes of lung cancer in our atmosphere
more
loss of ozone layer due to chemical omissions and human cancers

People like to bitch.

I just feel there is a good fight, why not spread the fight to “all” the parties concerned, when you consider the small amount of smoke coming out a human, consider the billions of gasses we allow to fill our atmosphere. Some really good energies here, people really want to protect their kids, their lives, the earth. Well do it! Don’t nag a smoker conquer an earth problem.

I don’t notice pollution fumes and am therefore not noticably affected. I would prefer that it wasn’t in the air but I don’t feel sick on a park bench because of it.

That being said, maybe it’s just because I live in an area which isn’t as badly polluted as other regions.

@Just_Justine: The fact that emissions also cause cancer is in no way a justification for smoking. It is only a good reason why we should also work to reduce emissions. Which many people are working very hard on right now.

And as has already been pointed out repeatedly, harmful emissions are always in pursuit of another purpose (production, transportation, etc). There is absolutely no justification for smoking.

Sure there is a justification for smoking—it makes you feel damn good.

My boyfriend recently admitted to me that he has been smoking, when he said he quit (with me over a year ago). Instead of getting mad, I laughed. I thought it was so cute he was trying to hide it from me. The truth is, I don’t care that he smokes. My only complaint, is the smell, which he is pretty good about hiding. I mean, he was able to hide it for over a year!
Oh, I do have another complaint. People who smoke usually throw their cigarette butts out their car windows. It creates a ton of litter, and causes fires.

Sorry if this has already been said b/c I didn’t read every response. . . but I don’t think you can compare smoking to other toxins in the air.

I would love if we could eliminate all fumes produced by cars but we can’t. But we continue to drive them because the cost to benefit ratio seems to be good. You produce pollution, but you get lots of stuff in return, like being able to get places without having to “Oregon Trail” it.

Smoking on the other hand, produces no benefit whatsoever besides a small immediate gratification. It doesn’t vastly improve peoples’ lives though. So the cost (potentially a long, slow, painful death) is not worth the benefit (the little buzz or whatever feeling you get for a few minutes)

@mrrich724 Well, the cigarette companies do make bank selling them, too. Not that I care if that part of our economy tanks.

@mrrich724 “So the cost (potentially a long, slow, painful death) is not worth the benefit (the little buzz or whatever feeling you get for a few minutes)” That’s your opinion. It might be entirely worth it to someone else.

@tinyfaery
i’m sure it’s worth it to some people, but I think it would be safe to bet that it’s not worth it to society as a whole, and to a majority of people. and the question is “why does everyone harp on smoking and not other stuff.”

So that is a valid answer. Yea, some people like it, but I’d say most people wouldn’t agree with it.

What the hell happened to the Live and Let Live attitude that so many tout like a personal mantra? You got your way – smoking is banned everywhere, and rightfully so. What more do you want? Any further, and you stand solidly in the “I want to control everybody else because I don’t have an appropriate outlet for my moral indignation” category.

It’s time to spread the wealth! Please feel free belittle and be nasty to everyone, equally. Spread yourself out! There are millions left for you to spew your bitterness toward. You can literally go your whole life without ever once having to focus on you, while your own life falls apart. Shall we spotlight those for public fodder? Maybe be a little nasty to you, too? Stick around! It will be your turn on fluther, one day. I won’t remember you, but it’s a guarantee that somebody will.

Pick on the dope smokers, the pill poppers, the alcohol drinkers and the morbidly obese. On second thought, the middle two are addictions, so it isn’t really their fault, right? Puh-lease. They are as much responsible for thier addictions as I am mine. I didn’t get any Get Out Of Jail Free cards. I didn’t get any sympathy. And guess what? I didn’t deserve any. I created my problem, just like YOU create yours.

You need to make up your mind. Either you are sympathetic toward addictions, or you are not. You admit smoking is an addiction, but I don’t see you treating food addicts or alcoholics with scorn. Why is that? Somebody has been bitten by the Politically Correct bug and can no longer think for themselves. At least TRY to tell the truth about it. Admit your hypocrisy. Otherwise, you are in danger of looking like a desperate control freak who would rather chew your arm off than spend any energy facing your own problems.

Sorry for spoiling your self-righteous riff.

Woah.

Jesus.

Nice

Whoa, hell! Giddyup, gal. You go, @phillis.

Ever since the smoking ban went into place in this city, I have been going to bars. Not often, but even once is more than the number of times I went before the ban. It is also possible for me to play music there, which wasn’t the case when I was dying from secondary smoke.

@wundayatta I know what you mean. Within an hour of finding out I was expecting my first daughter I threw out my smokes. The second pregnancy wasn’t so easy. That one nearly broke my mind. I have heard that quitting smoking is akin to kicking heroin. I don’t know any heroin addicts, so I don’t know how true that is, but it was extremely hard for me, and I relapsed later on. I will try again one day.

@phillis

I think part of what I write below may have been discussed above, sorry if I repeat anything…

It’s not about what happened to the live and let live. It’s about the fact that many people still bypass the law, with a total disregard for others. All too often, (and I am not saying you are guilty of this, nor any of the smokers here) it seems that non-smokers should live their lives and let live the smokers, but NOT vice-versa. Non-smokers, for still way too many smokers, just have to suck it in if they don’t like being exposed to tobacco smoke in public places, because of the supposed “freedom” of smokers. Some smokers still don’t realize that by smoking in public places they are limiting the freedom of those who are intolerant to tobacco smoke (every single human being and animal on this planet, that is.)

The reason the debating and arguing lives on is simply because the problem itself lives on, but now even more frustratingly: in spite of the law.

But apart from trying to make these irresponsible smokers understand, the negative publicity made for tobacco is also a question of saving a MASSIVE amount of money.

When an issue reaches such proportions, it really begins to become a concern for every single citizen. All else being equal, take away smoking, and you would no doubt see a sizable difference in healthcare taxes. According to figures by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, smoking costs $97.6 BILLION a year in lost productivity, and $96.7 BILLION a year in healthcare. According to this organization, smoking is responsible for $630 a year per US household in federal and state taxes.

Maybe that is another legitimate reason for people to be still talking about it: it is a societal problem. Much like, as you correctly point out, alcoholism, obesity, drug addictions of all kinds (I would also add “etc.” ^^). It’s not like there is only one battle being led here.

But if each time a targeted group starts saying “Don’t look at me, that fat guy over there is even worse!”, well my guess is that we are going to hear a lot more about these issues well into the next century.

As far as the conversation here is concerned, it’s not that we don’t care about other health-related problems, or that we think smoking is more of a nuisance to society than other issues…it’s just that the topic at hand is smoking.

I think the most important sentence @TheBot said was

As far as the conversation here is concerned, it’s not that we don’t care about other health-related problems, or that we think smoking is more of a nuisance to society than other issues…it’s just that the topic at hand is smoking.

Although I think the rest was great too.

@mrrich724 Hey, thanks a lot! :-)

Again with the false premise that if something else is worse, what you are doing is OK. Never, never has the “worse” scenario been a justification for “this is bad but not as bad as that”. Yes, there are many things worse than smokers causing our health premiums to soar, killing themselves and ruining the health of everyone else around them, but that does not excuse them. “I know smoking is bad” is the reason – period!

@TheBot I don’t know what goes on in other cities or states. My whole area is very political; you get fined if you smoke in public, so it doesn’t happen often. However, if you wanted to turn somebody in because they think they are somehow exempt from the rules that lesser mortals must abide, then I support you wholeheartedly. They earned it.

Had the topic at hand stayed at smoking, we wouldn’t be having this exchange. But some couldn’t use restraint OR manners, so as long as this question falls under the umbrella of “start a discussion” and not “solve a problem”, I am able to take the same liberties. As for the rest of it…....

I don’t really care for excuses of any kind, nor do I require aligning myself in the bonds of brother/sisterhood just because someone else is doing the same unhealthy thing that I am doing. Smoking is one of my final frontiers, and I will handle it. I don’t need to be cajoled or soothed or petted…....or enabled. I am responsible for my failures AND my successes, and I can’t feel good about who I am unless I own both.

On the other hand, I do not need, nor do I appreciate, a person using others as a battering ram to feel good about themselves. YOU walk in YOUR truth, and stop hiding behind other people. Maybe if you didn’t sell out so much, you wouldn’t be stooping to using others to feel better about who YOU are. It’s cheap.

If you don’t like yourself, OWN IT, get off your ass, and do something about it. Don’t use somebody else to elevate yourself because you can’t hack it on your own. Handle your own shit. Don’t run get your little buddies to rally around your cause because you can’t feel strong unless somebody is there cheering you on. What the hell do you do when nobody’s there? Good grief! No wonder there are so many self-esteem issues. If you feel good about who you are, then you don’t need anybody else. You don’t need others to constantly affirm your self worth, and you sure as hell ain’t gonna use me. Stand on your own two feet.

@phillis

Yes, to me what makes me write here is primarily frustration for these people who not not only disrespect others but now even the law. You are lucky to live in a place where the law is actually applied carefully. I know that in France (but not only), many people still smoke in public places, with no one telling them anything. Then again, the French are notorious for being heavy smokers, so maybe that plays a role.

Most of the drifting away from the topic of smoking has been triggered by smokers themselves, and followed-up on by some non-smokers trying to justify incredibly difficult positions in comparing two or more health issues.

I don’t think comparing illnesses and destructive habits is an appropriate way to answer “Why does everyone harp on about smoking?”, or just an appropriate thing to do at all.

You seem to be a responsible person in your outlook on life and dealing with problems. Kudos to you, if only more smokers thought like you!

I didn’t get who you were talking about in the last two paragraphs…I can certainly see it apply to both smokers and non-smokers…or was it still an @TheBot comment?

@TheBot No, absolutely not! You’ve been nothing but completely respectful to everyone on this thread, including me. I tried to separate the my message to you from my other thoughts by saying “as for the rest of it”, but even when I wrote it I knew it wasn’t as clearly defined as I wanted it to be. I couldn’t put my finger on a better solution, so I left it as is.

My area is like that with all the laws (except using turn signals and so forth). Though we’re not one of them, there are a lot of well-to-do folks in this area. They demand that the police cater to them, and, in return, they throw benefits and private donations to the police precincts.

Your comment including ”.....comparing illnesses and destructive habits…...” seemed to indicate that you feel that addictions are not illness, but a destructive habit. That’s how I see ALL addictions. I think putting the label of “illness” or “disease” on them inadvertantly left people with a loophole they exploit as an excuse to feel sicker than they really are, and assume that they are not powerful enough to kick their habit. To clarify that thought, I don’t think people intentionally do that, but an addiction usually speaks for the person, instead of the other way around.

@phillis

Oh ok, to be honest, I suspected it was a simple question of syntax misunderstanding. It’s always hard to write just the right way for things to be transparent…

Spot on, I do make the distinction between an illness and a destructive habit! :)

My mom used to be a heavy smoker when she was my age. Well, heavy…it was in the 80’s haha. But she was at around a pack and a half a day (!) Spent two years smoking. But one day she climbed the stairs to her room and had a realization: she was completely shocked at how tired and out of breath she was after just a few steps. And just like that, she decided to stop smoking, and did so once and for all starting the very next day. She did not go through any program to transition to a nicotine-free environment, no hotlines, no support groups, no patches.

Although, yes these things help, I strongly believe they should only come after willpower fails. Because in my opinion, if you go straight to these resources, you also run the risk of believing that quitting is an unsurmountable, herculean task for it to require all this outside help (much like a severe illness would), when ultimately it just boils down to throwing away your cigs and not replacing them.

Hey, whatever works for a person, is fine by me! If people need those things, I won’t be doing any finger-pointing. At least they aren’t justifying thier bad choices, right? They’re trying to break a monster habit, and that ain’t easy. That’s a powerful thing. @Just_Justine was right. Lung cancer IS showing up in people who have never been exposed to second-hand smoke. It’s confounding. There are major pollutants in the air, and sucking exhaust from nearby vehicles leaves that smell in my nose for the rest of the day. It’s difficult to enjoy an outside meal on restaurant porches in Atlanta because of that.

@phillis I gotta say, word.