Why do we have idiots that think it is ok to smoke in the presence of people who would rather stay healthy?

Question

I was just reading other questions about public smoking bans and you still have these morons that don't realize they are killing themselves. Worse yet, you have people actually trying to DEFEND their "right" to affect the health of other people by smoking in public.

This would be like me FORCIBLY making a fat dude exercise. Or making a healty person drink 5 gallons of frying oil.

As far as I'm concerned you have the RIGHT to fill your car/house etc. with smoke. Go ahead and smoke yourself to death. But public? This is incredibly selfish to even imply.

What if I shoot target practice in my backyard?? I have the right to do that correct? Would it then be ok if I did it in the nearest restaurant with people sitting all around me? NO you idiots that would not be my "right".

As far as that goes, if these jackasses want to blow themselves up by strapping on a bomb, then let them do that in the privacy of their own home as well. Instead of a church or a restaurant.

As I said, the people defending public smoking are idiots and quite obviously I wasn't asking you. So try not to answer and save your ramblings for someone who cares what you think. If I thought you had anything useful to say I'd have asked the smokers.

For the person talking about taxes, yes you are right. I think we should jack up the taxes some more. Maybe we could use it toward the health insurance of the smokers and then we could lower our premiums.

The other thing I want to say, is if you are going to have kids, you PROBABLY shouldn't smoke in your house either. My mom smoked and guess what? It has been affecting me my whole life. Even though she keeled over at 57 years old (lung cancer, what else) and I've been out of the house for 12 years, it is still killing me. So if you don't like my opinion, that's just too bad.

Answer 1

It is as much our public as it is yours. You can smoke. You can drive your care spewing out all sorts of nasty chemicals, notably carbon monoxide, which is also found in ciggerettes, but unfortunately at a much larger concentration and volume.

You do not own the sidewalk. You do not own the park. You are free to not be in the presence of a smoker.

You should also note that while the number of smokers has gone down, the number of cancers in the U.S. has gone way up from previous levels. (I do not mean to imply that smoking somehow prevents cancer of course. I simply mean to point out that smoking is not the guaranteed death it is portrayed as on t.v.)

Campfires are as bad for your lungs to be around as ciggerettes, and in fact one common cause of death back in the middle ages was wood ovens for cooking. A lot of houses didn't have very good ventilation or chimneys, or worse, they cooked over and open fire, and it would build up and usually kill them through suffocation, well before cancer had a chance to take hold.

I'll make a deal, I will stop smoking when everyone else stops driving.

Answer 2

Hey dude,
Take a cigarette and hold it up next to a factories smoke stack, or a muffler, or the fumes of an airplane, tell me which one has the worse fumes. Then multiply your muffles by millions, then figure out how many cigarettes it would take to match it.
Oh and do you have perfume Cologne, or aerosol cans in your home? That's just as toxic.
Cigarettes have been around since the days of Columbus, damn people have survived all those years, If cigarettes were the problem, would we be here today? No.
Get over your self righteous B-S.

Answer 3

That was quite a rant, do you feel better? Ok, your original question left me cold. I have asthma that is triggered by cigarette/cigar smoke. You would have had an ally here if you had not started belittling other human beings and name-calling off the bat. I personnaly think they are simply socially challenged. It is up to us to respectfully remind them that their smoking bothers us. None of the rest of the stuff you wrote has any implication other than you were on a roll. Wish I could help, I have been to the ER for times as you describe. I can't back someone who is lumping all smokers in together and calling them names to boot. Sorry.

Answer 4

I don't smoke, and I don't like smoking. I also have asthma due to growing up in a home of a smoker (my father). But that is my personal choice. If I don't want to be around smoke, then I don't go to those places. My rights end where someone else's begin. It is smokers' right to kill themselves if they so choose. Who am I to tell them what to do with their lives?

I personally find the "smoking bans" insane. I can see in restaurants. But outdoors? And in bars? Hello - smoking and drinking are hand in hand. If I didn't want to smell like an ashtray on Friday night, I didn't go into a bar. I went somewhere else, or I dealt with the smoke. FREEDOM OF CHOICE!

I think the anti-smoking group is getting a little out of hand with "their" rights and the rights of others. How do your rights as a non-smoker surpass the rights of someone else to do as they wish with their body? Please explain that one.

I am not a smoker, and I do not want to die of lung cancer. So what do I do? I choose to remain out of places that allow smoking. I don't go crying because I can't sit in an establishment and breathe clean air. If they choose to allow smoking in their place of business, that is their right. And it is your right to take your business elsewhere. It's that simple. What's not to understand about all of that???

P.S. - what church do you go to that allows smoking inside?? I have NEVER been in a church that allows that, and I have been on the earth going to church for quite a few years. . . More than I care to admit to right at this moment!

Answer 5

I smoke in public, but i usually move away from other people while I am doing it,i dont go around blowing smoke into people's faces.

hey Iville, that is awesome, its legal.

Answer 6

Listen I understand youre not a smoker, just understand that I am. You dont need to come around me while Im smoking. If you dont like it, you can see how good getting your *** beat is for your health.

Answer 7

People who smoke tend to be fairly narrow-minded in their addiction. See the site http://www.mychoice.ca/ which is a lobby group in favour of smokers' rights. I suppose these folks have a right to express their opinions, but their rights to smoke end when the air that I breathe begins.

Answer 8

Because it is not illegal to smoke in public places. It is only illegal to smoke in non-smoking private or government buildings. If soomeone tells me I can't smoke around them when I'm in public I will call them a fascist and probably blow smoke in their face. If you don't like second hand smoke avoid it.

Answer 9

I don't smoke, i happen to think cigarettes are disgusting, however if people want to smoke in a bar or something like that, why not?

Answer 10

why do we have non smokers complain about the smoke but love the taxes the smokers pay. before u say it... no i dont smoke but im not complaining