Who says you can't; no one is asking you to. Why can't their be both, smoking rooms and non-smoking rooms, smoking restaurants and non-smoking; why must you eliminate everywhere? What are you going to do when they want to take something away that you enjoy, or your wife and family enjoys, what if we decided that children should not be allowed in public places, well buddy, that's what's coming when you starting taking away, there is always more to follow, I hope it is that one little endulgence that you partake in.

"Why should the non-smoker be forced to sit in a restaurant where smokers are?"

The short answer is - they're not and they never were. If a restaurant offers a smoking area (or gasp! wants to be a 100% smoking establishment) you always have the option of sitting somewhere else (like another restaurant).

The better question is why should a smoker have to sit in a non-smoking restaurant? They also have the choice to sit somewhere else, but in an increasing number of states that other place does not include a restaurant.

I quit smoking a while ago, but I am still sick of the self-righteous preaching, exaggeration, and outright lies spewed by the anti-smoking interests. They want to dictate how everyone acts but don't even have the courage to stand up and admit it. They act like they are only doing it out of their own self-interest but the zone of their self-interest has expanded to pretty much everywhere. They seem to think the world belongs to them and everyone should cater to their every desire and whim.

The B.S. about pot being less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes is just that - B.S. You can't make comments about the long term affects to health until you have potheads actually admitting to their doctors that they are using. Never OD'd on pot? So? No one ever OD'd on cigarettes that I've heard of, either. Most of the nasty things you get from burning cigarettes are present when burning pot, too. Don't be a stupid hypocrite...

At the heart of it, it's not an issue of aesthetics, or even of good manners.

Cigarette smoke is known to be a toxic substance, and there is no excuse for subjecting other people to it.

once again, smokers aren't forcing it on anyone. if you walk into an establishment that allows smoking, you're making the choice to breathe it. a conscious adult decision. the same one smokers should be allowed to make on their own.

Whatever dude.

Neil

So let me get this straight......you say the smokers over-reacted when they were told they couldn't smoke on trains and buses anymore........and now you think the answer is to over-react to their over-reaction?!

Oh, yeah, that's really gonna solve the problem!

MY right is to not breathe YOUR stink

smokers have rights? what rights? to blow smoke in someone's face? What version of the constitution gave them that right?

Neil,

When designated smoking area's were put into law, the non-smokers still whined. Use common sense and leave the decision up to the business owners as to whether or not to allow smoking in "their" place of business. And why can't travelers have designated area's or rooms that they can enjoy a cigar or cigarette? They are paying customers also !

MastaFace - you're standing down wind dude and take a shower.

And why can't travelers have designated area's or rooms that they can enjoy a cigar or cigarette? They are paying customers also !

They do....it's called their home and they are free to smoke all they want. Smokers "rights" to smoke end when it negatively affects the health of others and these convoluted arguments comparing other issues like obesity to smoking just shows that smoking causes brain damage as well as lung damage. Someone being overweight doesn't affect my health, but some chimney exercising some perceived right to smoke has been proven to hurt the health of others. Smokers need to grow up, get a life and quit being slaves to the tobacco growers and distributors.

There are towns in CA trying to ban smoking in your own home now too.

Smokers need to grow up, get a life and quit being slaves to the tobacco growers and distributors.

... says the slave to oil companies and distributers...

Smokers need to grow up, get a life and quit being slaves to the tobacco growers and distributors.

Yo, TAW57, regardless of whether or not it's valid, that last sentence really knocked the wind out of an otherwise excellent post.

There are towns in CA trying to ban smoking in your own home now too.

Now that's government intrusion. However, subjecting children to cigarette smoke should be a criminal offense. No children, no problem.

I have asthma attacks from breathing perfume and had to move to enjoy my second cousin's graduation. Frankly, I think the only argument that makes any sense is a health argument. However, the argument has to be true and there needs to be some concessions made to the minority. "I don't like it" is nothing to go on. There are a lot of things I don't like. I really don't believe that people should be able to drive cars into San Francisco during certain days of the week and certain times of the day. Many people believe that they have the right to drive whenever and wherever they please, even if that means we send tens of thousands of young men and women to fight for access to the gasoline they need. How far do we go to save people from themselves?

Smokers only complain because they are required to take their death sticks outside, and away from the entrance.

As far as airlines are concerned, if you want to smoke on an airplane, get your pilots license and buy your own airplane. Then you can smoke till your hearts content. There isn't any reason that I should have to be locked up in an airliner choking on smoke.

Just read the article on MSNBC this is attached to.

There's a woman complaining about people smoking on cruise lines, even though they are only allowed to smoke outdoors.

Now, I am very happy to take my smoking outside where it won't bother anyone, but once people start telling me I can't even do that, I start to get up in arms.

The other day I was smoking a cigarette on a city street corner, with cars buzzing by spewing exhaust, and someone actually gave a fake cough and gave me a dirty look as they passed by.

Give me a break.

Josh... I totally agree with you. One whiff of a cigarette and all of a sudden the "whole area was permeated by the smell." Which is what that woman on the cruise said, I believe.

No, smoking should not be allowed on airplanes, where it's an extremely confined space and there is no ventilation. But I agree with others that businesses should have the right to choose for themselves whether or not to allow smoking in their establishments. And if you don't like it, don't go there. Just like if you don't like the music a bar plays, you don't go there.

And smokers have some rights under the "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" clause of the Constitution. The government shouldn't be allowed to say whether or not someone smokes in their own house or car or porch or backyard. I think even banning smoking in parks is going too far. Evidently now I can bring a gun into a national park but not a cigarette?!?

But that's just it -- your smoking DOES increase the risk of someone else developing a disease; haven't you heard of getting lung cancer from second-hand smoke? Or emphysema?

Agreed. There should be easily accessible smoking spots. I only smoke on vacation!

You only smoke on vacation? If you have the willpower not to smoke at other times, why smoke at all?

I read some literature on smoking recently, and, whether you smoke 10 packs a day, or 10 cigarettes a year, you are still considered a smoker, as far as insurance goes. Don't ask me how they know, but they do! And if you have checked the non-smoker part of your application, you will lose all benefits when they discover that you smoked even one lousy cigarette within the last year!

Why would you do that to yourself, and your family (if you have one)? It's not worth it. Especially since you don't seem addicted.

Smoker's Rights. Honestly, I don't think there should be such a thing. Smokers should have no rights other than the right to kill themselves. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a scenario in which they don't take others along with them. The other thing is this: there is not one single pro to smoking. Other than you make some people rich and give some other people jobs, for the user, there is NOT ONE SINGLE ADVANTAGE TO SMOKING. Babble on all you want about relaxation and free will and your rights and all that. If our world population were a quarter of what it is and maybe you lived on a 3 or 4 acre spread all by yourself and you had enough money to cover all your own health care costs over your lifetime and you never smoked anywhere but on your own property and not one iota of your 2nd hand smoke ever reached another human being or animal's lungs, then okay, maybe under those circumstances a person would have the RIGHT to smoke. Otherwise, no matter what you say, smokers cost the rest of us as well. In health care costs, in taxes (who do you think would have build all these places where you can go smoke outside of the elements) in lost productivity (how much work is being done by all these smokers standing outside these buildings polluting the air the rest of us who have to use the sidewalks) and in just in the amount of overall grief and negativity that smoking causes. Get out of denial and understand that whether you think so or not, your smoking costs the rest of us. And that should not be your right. No one should have the "right" to spend someone else's money against their will, especially for something that has no value whatsoever. I mean, I pay taxes but I have no children. Do I mind that my money is spent for schools? Of course not. An educated population benefits me. But smoking benefits no one. Not you and certainly not me. But we all pay. So get real. There should be no such thing as "smokers rights" and the sooner we all get that, the better.

Very well put, go to Washington. We should at least be given a little courtesy and consideration.

I smoke, but believe it should only be allowed outside. That being said, it sounds like you don't believe it should be allowed anywhere. Yet you probably don't mind alcohol, even though thousands of Innocent people are killed by drunk drivers every year. Your taxes are higher because of cigarettes? 80% of the cost of a pack of cigs is taxes. The CDC estimates that 400,000 people die in the U.S.A. from obesity each year. the estimate is about the same for smokers. Should we limit what people can eat to bring your taxes down? As for smoking not being a benefit to anyone, maybe so. but I enjoy it. I am sure their are plenty of things that you do that don't benefit anyone, but they are a pleasure to you. If I am outside having a smoke, and someone does not like it, they can walk away. Don't give me that it is unhealthy outdoors when we are all driving around in cars, breathing in the exhaust from the car in front of us.

Excellent points, Chris. If everyone in the US actually quit smoking today, many state governments, as well as the Federal government, would be practically bankrupt. Cigarette tax is the first thing to go up when the government wants to pay for something. Where do you think Obama got the money to expand healthcare for those several million kids? By increasing tax on cigarettes almost $1.

Flash, every decision that someone makes can potentially affect you negatively. If someone decides to drink/text/eat and drive, they may hit you or your car. If someone tries to avoid an animal in the road they may run you over. Anyone who has any health problems due to smoking or obesity or alcoholism affects your taxes and your cost of healtcare negatively. If you want to avoid all that, then YOU are the one who needs to buy 4 acres in the middle of nowhere. With billiions of people on the planet, you have to accept that other people's choice and actions WILL affect you, whether you like it or not. It's not always "right" or "fair", but it's life.

I agree totally. I have been smoking for 40-plus years. It's a nasty habit. But I don't smoke indoors anywhere, even when invited to do so. I don't smoke in my car or anyone else's. I don't smoke where smoking is not permitted.

We smoked in the designated smoking area of our cruise ship and in the casino when and where it was permitted there. And we too experienced non-smokers waltzing through the smoking area making snide comments about those who were smoking. And there were a lot of smokers.

I'm a smoker but I'm a considerate smoker. When restaurants first started banning smoking I would walk out of a restaurant that didn't have a smoking section. I'd go to another restaurant that was kind enough to obilge my habit while I was spending quite a bit of money in the establilshment. Now, there are no restaurants that allow smoking. I don't go out to eat much anymore.

What benefits does smoking provide to you both? Name 1 please.. As far as I can tell cigarettes have over 800 chemicals in them..

I can probably answer this from my past experience: Pleasure. Relaxation. De-stressing.

[H]ow does smoking a cigarette make your dinner experience better? It kills the tastebuds and when your clothes, hair and everything else around you smells like smoke, how can that be appealing to anyone?

The tastes, like most things in life are something you become accustomed to. It took months before I could taste the full flavor of foods again after quitting smoking, but I never noticed until I quit. The same could be said for the smell, but smells are subjective. My wife loves the smell of pipe smoke but hates the smell of most cologne. I personally despise the smell of patchouli - it smells like a dirty hippie trying to hide their stink with something even worse smelling.

As a hypocritical pot-smoker, your buds are dead, too - you're just too busy inhaling food to notice.

Moe and Jon, I appreciate smokers like you, unfortunately there are a larger # of smokers who are not considerate. I worked in the hotel industry for several years, and as a courtesy to our patrons we prohibited smoking in the lobby and entry areas. We had smoking rooms, and areas 25' from the building. But several times a day we would have to ask people to step outside, and would get nasty language thrown at us. Even had to call the police on some as a result. And the # of people who got nasty about it out numbered the ones who were polite and appologized by at least 3 to 1.

So evidently we do need laws that ban smoking in areas. Because the large # of smokers can not respect even a businesses rules about smoking. And that was the complaint. So now if someone wants to light up and gets rude about being asked to stop, they can talk to the police, on their way to jail.

Scuba... at least the smokers are paying the taxes for their own bad habits.

In NY, they want to add a "health" tax on to non-diet soda and other snack foods that are less than healthy because of the surge in obesity rates.

Would you feel better paying more taxes yourself because of someone else's weight problem?

Jason, you are a bigot, just wait, one day, they will try and take something from you and watch how you squeel.

No, let's wait until the Government bans taking photo's and takes away your Nikon's, then what are you going to do. do you think it's right to take from one single group of americans? If you do, you don't believe in anything except for your own selfish wants and desires and as long as those are being met, well, to hell with the constitution, to hell with other's rights and desires and wants. I feel sorry for the person who happens to cross you. You free thinker you.

Jason my friend was smoking well before he became disabled, and the stress of disability makes it difficult to stop. My father smoked while he ws dying of lung cancer. That's just how addictive it is. Again, the government should be using part of that tax money (that only smokers pay) to directly help smokers quit. Why is that such a big request?

It's been noted by others, but it bears repeating:

IF YOU OUTLAW CIGARETTES, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE CIGARETTES.

It's a big request because Jason is a bitter hypocrite who's just mad be cause he can't smoke pot legally. He likes to think pot has healthy effects and is hoping someone will call him on his B.S. so he can preach about the virtues of marijuana. The funny thing is that the same groups he thinks are trustworthy when they tell him smoking is bad are the ones he ignores as biased when they say pot smoke is bad, too.

I think it's hillarious when someone who has never been addicted to anything (they claim pot is non-addictive) blows off an additiction like it's a small hassle. A small hassle is dealing with people like Jason everywhere. Addiction is like having someone like Jason stand in front of your car, blowing an air horn for hours straight. You know the annoyance would go away for a little while - all you have to do is step on the gas for a second... Being addicted to something legal is just like that but with the knowledge that you won't get arrested even if you put the car in reverse and do it again for good measure.

Jason your story about the food stamps is BS they don't give cash back on food stamps it is on card.

Personally I think smoking should be banned in city parks. Here is why, smokers have a tendancy not to discard their spent cigarettes properly. They just throw them where ever they happen to be, and it is disgusting. Nothing worse than a park around where children play and the grass is filled with cigarette butts.

jmorgan, I smoke in my car and at home and outdoors. I try NEVER to toss a butt. But part of the anti-smoking crusade seems to be a noticeable reduction of receptacles for ashes and butts. Well, sorry about the ashes, but I put the extinguised butts back into the pack to throw away later. Smoking should be allowed outdoors, and ashtrays/receptacles should be provided. And airports should have smoking rooms. And bar owners/strip clubs/pool hall owners should be able to decide the smoking policy for their own businesses!

I can smell cigarette smoke from a smoker 4 or 5 cars ahead of me when sitting at a stoplight or in a drive through line. If I have my AC on I have to set it to recirculate. If the weather is nice I have to close my windows until the light changes. The smell is absolutely disgusting and often makes me sick to my stomach. This is strange, since I was raised around several family members who smoked and I don't recall it bothering me much then, but now I can't even stand to be around smokers outside- the stench doesn't respect boundaries.

Yeah, spud - you're smelling the cigarette but not all the cars around you... Sorry, but I think most people would call that psychosomatic. Maybe you're smelling those new bio-diesel fumes - they are one of the most disgusting smells I can think of.

When driving to my sister's house I smell the stench of billions of rotting brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake on a hot day.

When I pass by the detergent factory I can't block the overpowering scent of tide from singing my nose.

When next to a semi-truck at an intersection I smell the billowing plumes of smoke coming out of it's exhaust.

...People like you, spud, who complain that you can smell a cigarette from 30 feet away really tick me off and I'd give nothing more than to blow smoke right in your face and see how you like it when I say that I smell nothing!

Most smokers (at least here in Salt Lake) are very courteous and stand as far away from anyone and anything as possible when smoking. It has been proven that 25 feet is more than sufficient (more like 10 feet) to keep from others being able to inhale, or even detect, cigarette smoke.

I really do hope that someone blows smoke straight in your face, maybe you'll learn your lesson and stop crying wolf!

If everyone was so concerned about illegal drugs as they are about smokers this would be a better world to live in. No one is breaking into your house or business, killing people or robbing individuals for a smoke. It seems that illegal drug addicts the rights to impose on you and it is o.k. But, they will kill you instantly, wont they.

No one is breaking into your house or business, killing people or robbing individuals for a smoke

Um, Jeff. Have you been around anyone who is really, really desperate for a smoke? They'd rip your heart out in a second if you stood between them and a fresh Marlboro.

Heck, give them another few minutes without a cig and they'd take you on for a stale Viceroy.

Too many times, I've seen smokers completely disregard NO SMOKING signs. This makes it necessary to enact all the anti-smoking legislation to protect the health of others because it is so deadly.

Lisa, I'll let you in on a little secret: Smokers can be just as disrespectful as anybody else, but here's another little secret: The more places they are told they can't smoke the more pissed-off a lot of them are getting. They don't feel like they are getting any respect so they don't see much reason to show any either.

Have you ever walked near an area where smoking is permitted while acting like a self-important prima donna (faking a cough, fanning the air, covering your face with your hand, etc...)? If you have, you were being rude. If you didn't, it doesn't matter because most non-smokers are - at least that's the way smokers see it. They don't notice the non-smokers who are being decent or the ones who don't choose to put themselves in that position in the first place). Are most smokers rude? Most of the ones I knew kept to themselves about it until a non-smoker started riding them.

And you last smoked when? Quitting smoking can be expensive. I spent over $500.00. Sure going cold turkey is free, and I tried that at least 12 times over a 10 year period and got nowhere. I had to use nicotine replacement therapy, hypnosis, lots of food, a gym membership. I diet more easily. So unless you've gone through this, shut up! The government should used some of that tax money to directly help smokers quit.

Brenda, and all other smokers as well - it's not OUR fault nor should WE have to endure the disgusting byproducts of your incredibly bad decision to succumb to peer pressure when you were young and stupid and got yourself hooked. Some of us made a CONSCIOUS choice to avoid doing what everyone else did - even while growing up with two parents who smoked - to not want so badly to be "cool" that we would try something that you obviously have to force your body to become accustomed to, er, embrace the addiction to nicotine. If a non-smoker is exposed to someone else's sidestream smoke, it causes them to cough and/or it feels as if their breath is being taken away - hello?? doesn't that tell you something? Just as drunks think they can drive well, smokers think that they are not tainting the air the majority around them has to breathe. And one last thing - most smokers are NOT polite. They are nagged every hour of every day by something they can't overcome and resign themselves to just living with it, and they get their fix wherever and whenever they have to - even in cars and crowds around children who can't get away from their selfish behavior. I don't care what they say - no one twisted their arm and forced them to become hopelessly addicted, and the same people who were smart enough to avoid that pitfall should have the reward of clean air everywhere. If it were up to me, they'd all have to live together in an entire city (or state, if necessary) dedicated to the disgusting addiction. Then you'd see how big the pollution from all of it really is.

so let me see ... you get yourself a crappy habit, and you want the govt and tax dollars to get you out of it? What planet do you live on? Maybe I can go for a visit.

Lisa, it is hard to do, it happens to be an addiction. That is why every state in the Nation sued the big tabacco and have received millions and millions, and even today, new tougher tobacco laws, will you guys never be satisfied??? I guess not, let us hope that you have no friends, nor family that ever get addicted, to food, to medication, to anything, because you people have no mercy. I cannot wait, until our Government has chosen what it is going to go after next.

Please tell me what they are that does not cost money. Remember this is an addiction.

Excuse me! Where do you all live? The govenment has been taxing smokers to get them to quit smoking, but using the money to fund programs that have nothing to do with smoking. Smokers have already paid for the right to some funding to help them quit smokinjg. Also, you might want to follow some of the threads on the board, because I am a NONsmoker.

In all seriousness, it is an addiction, and it is hard to quit. People who want to stop smoking deserve our consideration.

That said, there is no reason to make it convenient for people to smoke, and no reason to make it less expensive.

The more of a pain in the neck it is to smoke, the fewer kids who'll get hooked, and that's where the key is, in my opinion. Kids will try cigarettes no matter what. If it's an inconvenient and expensive thing to do, they're likely to stop doing it before they get addicted.

I am personally not acquainted with anyone who started smoking as an adult - well, okay, after age 21 or 22.

Mike, I feel the same way about your addiction to autos. I think everyone should have to walk or ride a bike - NO EXCEPTIONS! The exhaust makes it soooo hard for me to breathe and some people can get incredibly sick just being around a little of it. Drivers are so disrespectful. The drive their cars past sidewalks where people are trying to travel at a safe speed, while spewing filth from their tailpipes! The nerve!

The drivers should route themselves away from all non-drivers. We should start reducing the number of roads where drivers can drive - sure they paid taxes to keep those roads paved but no one said the taxes had to go to support their driving habit! We should use the money to make more bike paths. Then we can charge drivers $5000/yr per auto in taxes to 'encourage' them to quit driving.

No one twisted their arms to become drivers. They all did it even after seeing the harm their parents were doing to the planet. I have no pity for the drivers because I have never been one. Hell, I'm pretty sure that makes me superior to all the drivers because I had to make an effort not to become a driver. Aren't you impressed with me?!

Since I know there will be at least as couple who didn't get it - I'm being sarcastic...

I would just like to committ about the post of the exspensive cost of quiting smoking. I went to my doctor and got a perscription for the Chantex to help me quit smoking. the chantax  costed me 107.00 out of my own pocket but i paid it. The next month i knew i couldnt pay it agin and i had to deal with all the erges on my own. i will amit i did have a few break down but i will also like to say it has been a year on July 4th that i have been a non smoker. yeahhhhh for me for making it one hole year. Sorry for all the misspelt words.

I know of others who've had that same problem, especially with Chantix. It's way too expensive.

Most people fall prey to the disinformation and hype of second hand smoke, and smoking in general. If they did their homework, they would have a different opinion.

Read

JG

You are telling people to

Read

It would be helpful to your point if you could reference just where you read

the disinformation and hype of second hand smoke, and smoking in general.

I'm very interested in reading that article. Thank you.

First off Lisa, I don't smoke and you know that had you followed the post. Secondly, smokers are already paying taxes that no one else pays. Why is using some of that money to directly help smokers quit smoking a problem? I've met people who got through the first thirty or sixty of no smoking while using Chantix... only not to have the money to pay the following month. Yes, they go back to smoking. Also, the queston msnbc.com posted is a ringer. Does anyone really believe that smokers should be able to smoke under all conditions?

AuzzieGirl: Here's one I see cited every so often:

This article only defends pipe and cigar smokers, and, what's more, it's not a scientific assessment. It's an article written by a 64-year old man who has smoked since he as 18 and he is tired of being thrown out of

some of the best restaurants in the country.

Who are you trying to kid, haven't you got anything more substantial that that?!

What do you have to offer Auzzie? You obviously didn't read the entire article. It's not just about pipes and cigars.

Smokers have been paying their way in society for years. Drinkers don't, and I've never been a drinker. Don't sleep around. Don't drive and pollute the air with my auto. Don't skydive... We all pay for the bad habits of others. Like I told my doctor few years ago, the lying is on both sides. Yes, tobacco companies are trying to kill us. But secondhand smoke is worst than firsthand smoke? Get real. That was just a ploy by the quit smoing forces to get smokers to harass smokers.

Right on Brenda

Smokers have been paying their way in society for years. Drinkers don't, and I've never been a drinker. Don't sleep around. Don't drive and pollute the air with my auto. Don't skydive...

Then again, I can't name more than a handful of people who've been struck by falling skydivers.

But it's true! I've seen it!

A guy lights up a smoke, and people start dropping like flies! On at least two occasions I've had to crawl on my belly to reach the door, breathing through a damp cocktail napkin. If it hadn't been for my high blood alcohol content, I'd have been a goner.

One poor lady, a Mormon, was clearly dead before she hit the floor. She haunts my dreams.

I know what you mean. One of the anti-smoking groups was running an ad claiming to be true story. The woman took her daughter to a bowling alley after being told there was no smoking during the day. When she got there she could smell smoke and noticed people were smoking in the bar. They stayed to bowl but her daughter was sick for the next two days becuse of the smoke.

My immediate response was: Maybe she should have kept the kid in her plastic bubble? With all these people claiming to be deathly ill from smoke, I can't help but wonder who took a massive dump in the gene pool?! People are smoking less, in less places yet everyone is so much more sensitive to smoke now? Maybe the problem is they aren't being exposed to enough? Their frail bodies can't handle anything foreign due to their antibiotic, antibacterial, antiseptic lives.

Arnold, you should do stand-up comedy!

Ya, look at algore. see what he has done with disinformation and gathering of data.

Proud to have you aboard, John. You bring a whole new perspective to the word "germane."

Because Moe, they're part of the 95% of the Lemmings in this country who are unable and/or unwilling to think for themselves. They believe what they want to believe based on half-truths and propaganda.

Problem is, they vote, too.

"It may irritate their breathing passages, could even make them cough, might trigger an asthma attack, or some other physical manifestations in response to beong exposed to cigarette smoke"

Since I have had asthma since the age of 4, likely caused by the intelligence of parents who did like the rest of society and smoked in the house, thanks for making our point yourself - apparently, if it isn't an allergen then it must not be bothersome or harmful, like a sharp stick in the eye doesn't make you break out in hives, it just blinds you in one eye - hmmm, must be safe then. Go irritate your own passages somewhere we are not, and hurry up and take the years off your life in the process and you'll be one less we have to deal with.

Wow, Mike really takes offense when someone asks for a little truth... All Moe was saying is if you experience those symptoms, be honest and say it instead of lying about it and calling it an allergy.

As for blaming your parents for having asthma, I'm curious - do only the children of smokers get asthma? I'm pretty sure being exposed to smoke is not a requirement, yet if a kid grew up around a smoker and gets asthma, it's automatically assumed to be because of the smoking. The same thing is true when they figure the number of deaths attributed to smoking. It seems like all other possible causes are ignored - if the person smoked and they weren't murdered or crushed in an accident it seems to be classified as a smoking-related death.

The problem with propaganda is that when people start to actually think about the claims (instead of swallowing it as gospel truth without any critical thought) they start to notice the exaggeration. After that they start to question whether any of it was true or not. Be anti-smoking but be honest. Don't be a parrot and just repeat some B.S. you think is accurate because you heard it reapeatedly in a commercial.

I called the Federal Government, in an effort to find out how the government arrives at its estimate of 450,000 annual smoking related deaths. After repeated calls to different individuals within the government, it turned out that nobody really knew how the figures are compiled.

Any particular people in the "Federal Government"? Someone in the Bureau of Fisheries and Hatcheries? The chairman of the Tea Tasting Board? An aide to former Senator Larry Craig? The Assistant Undersecretary of the Department of Education?

Or did you just look up "Federal Government" in the phone book and give a ring to the main number?

Sorry, bub. This whole post has "phony" written all over.

Good for you. What else do you excuse yourself for? Driving your air polluting vehicle to work?

Maybe the government should tax the crap out of something YOU are addicted to, sir/madam. Like video games? Chocolate? Wine? Batteries?

Look, I don't want to have smell cigarette butts and you shouldn't have to smell my butt. And FYI, I ride a bicycle to work, don't play video games, don't drink wine, and use rechargeable batteries. I also grow many of my own vegetables in my garden so I consider myself probably more eco-friendly than most folks, but unlike arrogant smokers, I don't go around pounding my fist at my "right" to live the way I like.

Hey JB maybe they ought to be a tax on breaking wind.

Good for you, JB. You keep it up! I hate hypocritical jerks like you. You say, and I quote:

"but unlike arrogant smokers, I don't go around pounding my fist at my "right" to live the way I like."

However, in your first post you say, (& once again, I quote)

"Smoking is a disgusting habit and I'm under no obligation to have to smell or inhale their second hand smoke." & "As far as I'm concerned, the more we can ban smoking, the better off we'll be."

How is this not "beating" your "fist" for the right to live the way you want? You want smoking outlawed & to heck with anyone else's right.

Please spare me your way-too-liberal blather.

Hey now, where did you get the idea that the anti-smoking movement is "liberal"?

I'm a "liberal" and I smoke, and will defend others right to do so. In fact, all the "liberals" I know are also smokers.

Did you ever think that the anti-smoking lobby is full of as many religious crusaders on a mission to save others from bad habits as crunchy liberal Vegan types on the same mission?

Cause it is.

I think we should tax JB for his garden and organic foods. They take up more space than the corporate engineered grow factories which could be used for low-income housing. Also, tax him for riding a bike because he interferes with auto traffic and/or requires additional funding for bike lanes and paths.

Everyone has something they like which someone else might not like. If we could tax people for being self-righteous, hypocritical pr!cks, we could pay for healthcare just from the anti-smoking zealots.

"No one should have the right to tell me where I can go or what I can do - so I'm going tell them where they can go and what they can do!"
- Self-Righteous Anti-Smoking Zealot Motto

JB says he is "eco friendly".

Gag me with a spoon.

Good answer

You don't always have the option if you "don't care to be around it." The cloud of smoke outside offices in poor weather, for example. People who smoke in public are forcing others to ingest cigarette smoke. That's just wrong.

Arnold, you ran them outside and took away shelter. Are you really surprised?