SMOKING? Why isn't it socially acceptable in the US?

Question

Why it socially acceptable in every other country in the world to smoke but not in the US? Tobacco is a main cash crop in the US and pretty well built the economy for this country. Now everyone just wants to ban it here and ban it there, tell me I can't smoke in my car, outside, in a bar? If they had it their way in my home. WHY?

I have lost family members to smoking and lung disease...heart disease, all that; it is still my choice. As for littering and paying someone to clean them up, no convicts do that as they pick up the other trash you throw out your window of your car...irresponsible though where does that come from.
I don't have kids either and if I did I may just quit but as for right now if I want to cut the worst years of my life short it is still my choice to do so.
Here is a quick fact smokers actually tend to be more social and more successful than non...

Answer 1

It's complete control over our lives. Smoking is bad, okay, but it's your car and your house. No one really should have a say what you do in private. I heard you can't even smoke in prison, so don't get locked up! People on death row can't smoke. I wonder what the logic in that is. I am not a criminal or am I defending any, but I think it's stupid. Smoking is just one of the many things we can't do anymore. It has to start somewhere. It's only gonna take more and more rights away from us. This is just the beginning for all you non smokers who think it's great. Just wait until all your rights are gone. The you will be singing a different tune. In the meantime, enjoy all the healthy food additives that you eat every day. Government doesn't seemed to concerned with high fructose corn syrup and MSG. Nah, those things are good for you, especially the hydrogenated oil, all perfectly legal here but yet banned in countries that allow smoking. Has anyone even read up on the rBGH, the bovine growth hormone that is artificial and added to your milk. Or what about aspartame. Whatever you do, don't smoke pot, but make sure you take healthy legal drugs which side effects are sometimes fatal, as shown on TV. Yes, it's all good.

Just want to say one thing about people who talk about ciggs on the street. I would agree, ONLY after you pick up all your garbage I see littered everywhere. These people speak as if garbage is okay. I see tires in the streams, floating soda bottles in the water, candy wrappers, littered beaches, oil on the waters, trash everywhere!... just make sure you don't throw your cigarette out, that's so much worse. I live near a Dunkin Donuts and enjoy looking at empty coffee cups all the time. I don't see too many cigarette butts, but I do see alot of other garbage.

Answer 2

A) Smoking is dangerous to the smoker
B) Second hand smoke is dangerous to those around the smoker.
C) Health insurance rates are sky high - in part because the non-smokers have to subsidize the costs of treatment for smoking-related diseases.
D) Many people dislike the smell of cigarettes and they rightly feel that they should have the right be be in a smoke free environment. This problem is not only while the smoker is smoking but the smell permiated their clothing and then we non-smokers are subjected to the smell even longer than necessary.
E) Why would we want to make it easier for our children to pick up such an expensive, addictive and dangerous habit like smoking?
F) We hate to see the cigarette butts littering the streets because a minority of smokers feel that the world is their ashtray.
G)"Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray" Smokers breath is not very pleasant.

There are other equally valid asnwers to your question but this answer should give you some insight.

Answer 3

Because the Majority of the people do not smoke. They knew someone that did smoke and died a horrible death in a hospital from lung cancer, or suffocated in a chair from a diseased lung.
Also studies indicate as much as you would like to believe, the opposite that second hand smoke is more harmful than getting it thru a filter. So get out from in front of the entrance of the stores. I don't want to pass thru your haze of carsogenes to get my cheese and bread from Walmart.
Why can you not smoke in your car, cause you don't know what an ashtray looks like. Every time I see you driving around town your throwing your butts out the window. Then I have to pay someone to come sweep up your trash.
And you should not smoke in your house one cause you'll burn it down. Two, cause of your 3 year old kids, that damn don't get any choice but to breathe in your smoke.
Smokers prove time and time again that they are irresponsible so well maybe big brother needs to become more responsible for you.

Answer 4

As you can plainly see from all your responses here, people think it's disgusting, smelly, gross, etc. The fact is, people are more educated about the ill effects of smoking and, becuase we live in a healthy, water drinking like mad society, nobody wants to experience the smoker's wrath. Sometimes people are just overboard about it. In N.Y., they are trying to pass a law that says if you are smoking within a certain distance of a child, you'll get in trouble for child abuse. If only we could put our "smoking ban" energy to more useful things, the world would surely be a safer place.

Answer 5

Because our government thinks they know what's best for its citizens and tries to protect them from certain "evils" by making laws or taxing "luxury" items. Sounds more like socialism than democracy.

Unfortunately regulating smoking won't make smokers quit. The (former) Soviet Union tried this by regulating the number of cigarettes to each citizen. Smokers would stand in line for hours during freezing cold weather just to get their quota of smokes. Kind of ironic, now that the iron curtain hass fallen, that some of the heaviest smokers are Eastern Europeans from former Soviet Bloc countries.

Blackmarket cigarettes were a big money maker for the Russian mob in the U.S.S.R. Now they are concentrating their sales in the U.S. Especially in places like New York City where a pack of smokes is around $7.50 or more.

Answer 6

Because it's horrible for you, Sweetie. I've been on the patch now for more than a week. I guess people are fed up with the smell and with their friends and relatives getting sick and dying of cancer and heart disease. I think they should be more sympathetic, because it's a really strong addiction for some people. And people don't really have the right to tell you not to smoke in your car or home, unless it is your spouse and they are allergic, or have something like emphysema. Control freaks.

Answer 7

For one thing it's gross. For another, it's unhealthy and the second hand smoke is more dangerous than the inahled smoke. Lastly, if you're going to smoke do so in the privacy of your own home, but not where other people around you would not want to inhale.

Answer 8

I guess the reason is that (generally speaking) Americans are more health-conscience than other people. I am an American, and I don't wish to breath in dangerous second-hand cigarette smoke. I have the right to vote, so I voted to ban cigarette smoking in public places. Democracy in action!

Answer 9

It harms not only the person smoking, but others as well. Since simple courtesy is hard to come by anymore, we need to pass laws to protect the well-being of our citizens.

Answer 10

Because the people who want to live an extra 30 or so years would like to do so. Don't be so selfish with your cancer sticks, now. :)